Portable Power Tools

I I

t I I

t I

THEARTOFWOODWORKING

HOMEWORI$HOP

t I I

GUIDE WORKSHOP

t

TIPS SAFETY . W e aar p p r o p r i astaef e t ey q u i p m e n t : s a f e t yg l a s s e sa,f a c eo r d u s tm a s kf y o ua r eu s i n gs a n d i nagc c e s s o r iaensd, h e a ' i npgr o r e c t i or 'ry o ua r eo o e r a t i n g dft i m e . t o o l sf o ra n e x t e n d epde r i o o

. M a i n t a iann dc l e a nt o o l sr e g u l a r l y . K e e pa l lb l a d easn db i t ss h a r pc,l e a na n d l a r l yf o r l o o s e u n d a m a g eCdh. e c kr e g u p a r t sa n df r a y e cd o r d s .

. N e v ecra r r ya c o n n e c t et odo lw i t hy o u r . Clamp y wherever f i n g eor nt h et r i g g e r , allworkpieces secure possible freeto operto keepbothhands . T e b a c kl o n gh a i ' .r o l lu p s l e e v e s . a t et h et o o l . Remove wearing loose clothing. andavord . B ea w a r e o f t h ep o s i t i oonf t h e p o w e r r i n g sa n do t h e rj e w e l rtyh a tc a nc a t c h a c c i d e n t ai lnl ym o v i npga r t s . c o r da t a l L t i m e s .

r M a k es u r et h a tl i g h t i nagn dv e n t i l a t i o n e .on o t i n t h ew o r ka r e aa ( ea d e q u a t D u s et o o l si f t h ef l o o ri s d a m po r w e t . o K e e py o u rw o r ka r e ac l e a na n dt i d y ; c l u t t ecr a nl e a dt o a c c i d e n t s . o K e e nn e t sc. h i l d r eann do n l o o k e r s a w a yf r o mt h ew o r ka r e a .

. C o n c e n t r aotnet h ej o b .D on o tr u s h s .e v ewr o r ki f y o ua r e o rt a k es h o r t c u t N t i r e d s, t r e s s eodr h a v eb e e nd r i n k i n g r D on o to v e r - r e a cKhe.e po ' o p e r ' o o t i n g a l c o h oolr u s i n ga n ym e d i c a t i ot hna t i n d u c edsr o w s i n e s s . a n db a l a n caet a l l t i m e s .

. M a k ea l la d l u s t m e nt ot sa t o o w l i t ht h e t o o lu n p l u g g e d .

I

I I

t I

t I I

CORDS FOREXTENSION MINIMUMWIREGAUGE RATING()FTO()L AMPERAGE

LENGTH CORDS FORDIIFERENT MINIMUMGAUGE

50'

75'

| 00'

o-2.0 2 . r - 34

1B

1B

1B

1B

1B

16

3 . 5 5- . 0

1B

16

T4

5.1-7.0

16

L4

I2

7 . rr 2 . o

I4

I2

l0

L2.r-16.0

T2

10

Crosebar

wiregauge Choosing theproper cordwiththewrong Using anextensron gauge maycause a dropin linevoltage, heat in lossof power, excesstve resultrng a n dt o o lb u r n o uTt .od e t e r m i nt hee needed forthetool minrmum wiregauge t t left. a n dt a s ka t h a n ds, e et h ec h a r a l f , f o r i n s t a n c yeo, u rt o o lh a sa 4 - a m p extenmotorandyouareusinga 5O-foot g a u g seh o u l d s i o nc o r dt,h em i n i m u m ho

IR

Chnnqc

rl u 6 1J-oi rLaAl zcnt lca U v6 6 r 1r 1Ji ,1u6r1r 1r p

cordsistedby Underwriters extension L a b o r a t o( U r yL ) .

A SAWHORgE BUILDING for build,inq Thereare manyd,eoiqne a s a w h o r e ef,r o m c o m p l e xp l a n e t h a L u 6 ee l i d t n jqo i n l e a n d h i n 7 e o N oe i m p l eo n e ew h e r ei n e x p e n o i v e paireof meraljawe qrip 2-by-4eNo m a k eq u i c ke e N eo f l e q o . Y o uc a n a l e o m a k ea a l u r d , y , k n o c k - d o w n wibhjuet' sawhoreein a few minDt'ee t h r e e V i e c e oo f w o o d .F i r e l , c u t r two leqofrom 1/""plywood:oaw a 4-inch-deen p o N c hi n l h e m l d d l e o f L h e L o p o f b o l h p i e c e e f. h e n c u Na c r o s s b a rl o l e n q L hf r o m a 1 - b y - 6a n d s a w a e l o t r o n e f o o l i n f r o me i t h e re n ab f i L i n t o t h e l e q e . A n g l et h e e l o l e r o u q h l y5 " f r o m t h e v e r | i c a le o l h e l e q se p r e a d elightlyoulward.

t I I I I I

I I T I I I I

I

t I I

t I I

THEARTOFWOODWORKING

PORTABLE POWERTOOLS

TITEART OF WOODWORKING

POruLE

PO\VERTOOLS

TIME-LIFE BOOKS ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA ST.REMYPRESS MONTREAL. NEWYORK

THE ART OF WOODWORKING was produced by

THECONSUTTAN'TS

ST.REMYPRESS PUBLISHER KennethWinchester PR.ESIDENT PierreLdveill€ SeriesEditor SeriesArt Director SeniorEditors

PierreHome-Douglas FrancineLemieux Marc Cassini(Text) HeatherMills (Research) Art Directors Normand Boudreault,SolangeLaberge Designer Luc Germain ResearchEditor Iim McRae PictureEditor ChristopherJackon Writers TamsinM. Douglas,Andrew Jones Contr ibuting Illusffators RonaldDurepos,RobertPaquet, Studio La PerluEteInc. Administrator NatalieWatanabe ProductionManager MichelleTurbide SystemCoordinator Jean-LucRoy Photographer RobertChartier Index ChristineM. Jacobs Proofreader Iudith Yelon Time-Life Booksis a division of Time-Life Inc., a wholly owned subsidiaryof THE TIME INC. BOOK COMPANY

TIME-LIFEBOOKS President Publisher ManagingEditor Directorof EditorialResources Associate Publisher Marketing Director EditorinlDirector ConsultingEditor ProductionManager

MaryN. Davis RobertH. Smith ThomasH. Flaherty EliseD. Ritter-Clough Trevor Lunn ReginaHall Donia Ann Steele Bob Doyle MarleneZack

TedFuller is the product managerat Delta InternationalMachinery/PorterCable (Canada).He is currently working in new product developmentand marketingfor woodworkingtools and equipment.He is alsoan amateurwoodworker, Giles Miller-Mead hastaught advancedcabinetmakingat Montreal technicalschoolsfor more than ten years.A nativeof New Zealand, he previouslyworked asa restorerofantique furniture. Mike O'Malley is a Canadianindustrial designeraswell asContributing Editor, PowerTools,for Woodcutsmagazine . JosephTruini is SeniorEditor of Hoze Mechanixmagazine. A former Shopand Tools F-ditorof Popular Mechanics,he hasworked as a cabinetmaker,home improvementcontractor and carpenter.

Portablepower tools p. cm.-(The Art of Woodworking) Includesindex. (trade) ISBN0-8094-9908-8 rsBN 0-8094-9909-6 0ib) 1. Powertools. 2. Woodwork I. Time- Life Books. II. Series

TTr86.P671992 684'.083-dc20

92-25ss8 CIP

For information about any Time-Life book, pleasecall l-800-621-7026,or write: ReaderInformation Time-Life CustomerService P.O.Box C-32068 Richmond,Virginia 2326r-2068 @ 1992Time-Life BooksInc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproducedin any form or by any electronicor mechanical means,including information storageand retrievaldevicesor systems,without prior written permissionfrom the publisher,except may be quoted for reviews. that briefpassages First printing. Printed in U.S.A. Publishedsimultaneouslyin Canada. TIME-LIFE is a trademarkof Time Warner Inc. U.S.A. R 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 r

CONTENTS

6 INTRODUCTION

t 2 CIRCULAR SAW L 4 Anatomyof a circularsaw T6 Circularsawblades and accessories 20 Basiccuts 29 Advancedcuts 32 34 36 38 40 4I 44 46

SABERSAW Anatomyof a sabersaw Sabersai,vblades Straightcuts Anglecuts Curvedcuts Plungecutting Cutting duplicatepieces

48 50 52 54 58 60 64

ELECTRICDRILL Anatomyof an electricdrill Drill biti and accessories Boringholes Screwholesand plugs Portabledrill joinery Sanding,scraping and smoothing 67 The portabledrill as drill press

68 70 72 76 77 81

ROUTER Anatomyof a router Bits Routeraccessories Edgeforming Dadocuts

85 88 90 97

Routingcircles Patternrouting The router asshaper Routerjoinery

106 108 110 lI2 I2I

PrATE IOTNER Anatomyof a platejoiner Plateioineraccessories Platejoinery The platejoiner asgroover and trimmer

I22 I24 126 I29 135 138

SANDER Anatomvof a sander Sanding'accessories Belt sander Orbitalsander Random-orbitsander

I4O GLOSSARY I42 INDEX I44

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

-t

INTRODUCTION

JohnLeeketalksabouthis

TOOL COLLECTION shop.He learnedwoodworking f gt.* up workingin my father'scabinetmaking I fromanEnglishwoodcarver andmyearlytrainingwasin thatsametraditionwith planes Throughthis plentyof experience andsaws. usinghandtoolssuchaschisels, knowledge of woodasa materialandhowto workwith workI gainedafundamental shop,theuseof powertoolswasa naturalextension it. Sincethiswasa commercial of thattraining. In theearly1970s I leftmyfather's shopandbeganto earna livingon myown.I methodsandespecially in applyingmy wasinterested in theoldhandwoodworking I quicklylearnedthat knowledge of woodin thepreservation of historicbuildings. andeffort, powertools gavemethesameresults ashandwork, butwithmuchlesstime leavingmewith moretimeto applymywoodworkingskillswith handtoolsto the detailsthatreallymatter. myownsetof powertoolsthefirstthingsI boughtwere WhenI begancollecting a Trinch drill anda sabersaw.LaterI addeda 3-by-2lbeltsanderandarouterto my housings toolshadall-aluminum kit, and----eventually-an 8-inchcircularsaw.These toolsthat thatwerebrightandshinywhennew.Theywereweightyandsubstantial youjustknewcouldstandalifetimeofwearanduse.And,with regularmaintenance repairs, theyhave.I stillusethosesametoolsin myshop,although andoccasional theshinypolishhaswornto a dull grey. Astimepassed, manufacturers beganto offerpowertoolswith plastichousings. myselfwith havingboughtmytools At firstI didntthinkmuchofthemandcredited however,I beganto realize stillmadeof goodsolidmetal.Slowly, backwhen theywere makes whenyodreusingthetools alot of sense thattheplastichousingtlighterdesign alldaylong.SoI boughtanothercircularsaw-thisonewith a plastichousing. It tookmoretimefidAndthencamecordless tools.At firsttheywereunreliable. thanit didto juststretchoutanextenbatteries andrecharging dlingwith near-dead improved of thechargers and sioncordandusetheoldones.But,astheelectronics developed, thesehandytoolsbeganto saveenoughtimeto increase batterytechnology productivity.Now,I havea cordless drill, sanderandright-anglegrinder. theyalso Something to keepin mind:Whilethesetoolsallowyouto workfaster, allowaccidents to happena lot quicker.It doesn'ttakemuchmorethanonestroke of ahandsawto knowyouarecuttingyourself.Butapowersawcancutoff a finger goingwrong. evenrealize thatsomething's in lessthanatenthof asecond-beforeyou Youhaveto becareful. asapreservation consultant, helpinghomeworl<s JohnLeeke maintain and understand owners, architects andcontractors He lives in Sanford, Maine. theirhistoric buildings.

-

INTRODUCTION

JanHoffinan discusses

THE SABERSAM andbuildPennsylvania-German folkfurniture.Theinspiration for mywork J design I comesfrom thepeoplewholivedandfarmedaroundthis regionduringthe 18thand19thCenturies. Theyproduced utilitarianfurniturethatwascolorfully paintedandwonderfirlly scrolled. Theelaborateness haspromptof thatscrollwork incapable ed at leastonewagto suggest thatthePennsylvania Germans seemed of cuttinganythingin a straightline. WhenI firstexpressed aninterestin workingwith wood,myfathergavemea 30year-old tablesawandacircularsawof aboutthesamevintage. Theywere followed shortlybyadrill andagood-quality sabersaw.Foryears, thesemachines-plusabox theextentof mytoolinventory. frrllof oldwoodenhandplanes-were In thebeginning, I usedthesabersawonlyrarely.ButI learned to appreciate the valueof thismuch-overlooked tool.Somewoodworkers seemto thinkthatbigger means better.Theyequate thesizeof themachineandthehumit makes with itsprothatis notavalidequation. ductivity.Forme,thesabersawproves My sawcomes in handyfor everything fromcleaning mortises outtherectangular in benchtopsto sawingtriangularspoonslotsin theshelves Butwhere of cupboards. is in cuttingtheintricatescrolldesigns thetoolreallyexcels in thelargesidepanels of openkitchendressers or in thepieces of furnitureknownasbucketbenches. Those arethethingspeopleusedto leaveoutonthebackporchto holdthebuckets forbringingin waterfromthewell.If I triedto usea bandsaw,thewholeoperation would verycumbersome, requiringa lot of maneuvering become or flippingof thestock. Withthesabersaw,thewoodremains whileI simplypivotthetool. stationary mightchoose Somewoodworkers thebandsawif theycouldonlytakeonemachine to a desertisland.I'd reachfor mysabersawinstead.

Ian Hoffman hasowneda cabinetmakingshopfor thelast10years.Proudof herPennsylvania-German lineage,shelivesin EastBeilin,Pennsylvania.

-

INTRODUCTION

Bob Jardinicoon

NEWTOOL TECHNOLOGIES p u.r sinceI builtmyfirsttreehouse30yearsago,I'vebeenfascinated bywoodI-r working.Nowadays, I specialize periodfurniture. in reproducing Asmyskillshaveimprovedovertheyears, sohavethedemands I placeonmytools. Tobenefitfromever-changing technologies, I havecontinually updatedmyinventory of powertoolsin threemainareas: routers, sanders andplatejoiners. I usetworoutersfrequently: avariable speed7z-inchplungerouteranda tilting baselaminatetrimmer.Theplungerouterisidealfor mortising.With itsthreedepth stops,I canrepeatthesamethreesetups overandover.I alsousethismodelto rough outunusual periodmoldings with acombination of straightandcoreboxbis. Itsnew variable-speed featureallowsmeto reduce panelbit speed to safely uselarge-diameter raisingandmultiple-profilebits.With thetrimmingrouter,I cancutinto a surface at anyangle-a usefulfeaturefor makingundercutmoldings.It'salsoa nicewayto gainmoreflexibilityfromcommonlyavailable bits. I'verecentlyincorporated twonewadvances in sandinginto myshop.Thefirstis framefor thebeltsander. a sanding Thisrectangular accessory supports thesander, keeping it fromtippingandgouging theworkpiece. Theframeisindispensable for levelingglued-uppanelsquickly,aprocess thatusedto takehourswith ahandplane. It'salsogreatfor sandingedgingstripsflushwith aplywoodpanel.Thesecond innovationistheoscillating triangularpadsander. It will finish-sand elaborate shapes and insidecorners withoutmarringadjacent sudaces. Equipped with adustcollection system,it notonlymakes sanding alessunpleasant chore;it alsokeeps thepaperfrom clogging,cuttingdownsubstantially on sandingtime. Platejoinersareessential in myshop.Likemanyotherwoodworkers, I boughta basicplatejoinerforjustoneproject,thendiscovered howversatile thetoolis.I use platejointsfor allthepanelsI glueup;thebiscuitsevenalignslightlywarpedboards, resulting in a flatterpanel.I oftensubstitute platejointsfor otherjointsbecause, in manycases, theyarestronger andlesslikelyto failasthewoodmoves in response to in humidity. changes

Boblardinico manages woodworkingsalafor Colonial Smu,a machinny sala andseryicecompanybasedin Massachusetts. He abo restoraantiquefurniture in his homeworlshopin Plymouth,Mass.

l';.14 llr"ftJl:, . r' !',tl ,i'+'-'i ' 1

j'

, . . .

.

r;.'ifi:il;;rii,;

CIRCWSAM raditionally thoughtof asonly a carpenter's tool,thecircular sawhas earned animportantplacein shop.It istheidethewoodworking alcuttingtoolforreducing largepanelsor longboardsto a manageable size.Accordingly, thecircularsawis oftenthe first tool woodworkers reachforwhentheyareworkingwittr heavyor unwieldystock.

big difference, improvingthe accuracyofboth rip cutsand crosscuts. jigsandaccessories will Shop-made alsohelp guidethe sawfor miter andtapercuts,andmostsawshave a built-in adjustmentthat tilts the baseplatefor bevelcuts.If youwish to makedadoesor grooves,a circular sawcan cut awaymost of the waste(page29)in lesstime than it Imaginetrying to rip a 4-by-8 would taketo installa dadohead panelof 36-inchplywood in half on a tableor radialarm saw.The job canthenbefinishedwith a chison a radial arm sawor crosscutjig ting l0-foot-longplanksof 2-by-6 Ridingalongtheedgeof a commercial el. Portablepower sawscan also make plunge cfis (page 30), an hardwoodinto 24-inchlengthson a circularsawcanmakea mitercutat a preciseangle.Thejig ensures a tablesaw.Both cutsarecertainly that theblade operationbeyondthe scopeofany feasible,but in the time that it keepsto theintendedcuningpath. stationarysaw. would taketo set uo the cuts and Circular sawsare designated accordingto their bladediameter.Modelsrangefrom 4 to 16 wrestlethe wood onto the sawtable,the circularsawcould havealreadydonethejob. Theonlylimitationis thatyou have inches,but the 7 1/+-and8 %-inchsizesarethe most popular to expectits cutsto be relativelyinaccurate,comparedto the homeworkshopsaws.Somewoodworkerspreferthe smaller preciseresultsthat a well-tunedstationarysawcandeliver. 5 t/z-and.6-inchsaws.Apart from beinglessexpensivethan However,in the first stages thelargermodels,thesecompacttoolsarelightweightandeasy of a woodworkingproject,you are to use.Thevalsousuallvhavethe bladeon the left-handside usuallyonly cuttingstockto roughlengthandwidth. It is only later,when the pieceshavebeenreducedto a workablesize, of the motor,makingthe cuttingline easierto see. Poweris anotherfactorthat distinguishes that you will cut them to their final dimensions. onemodelfrom another.Thebiggerthe motor,the longera circularsawwill cut Still,do not think ofthe circularsawasstrictlya roughcutIf you plan to usethe tool offtool. Wth a plywoodbladeon its arbor,the sawcanmake without stallingor overheating; quickwork of crosscuttinga plywoodor hardboardpanelwithprincipallyon hardwood,a sawwith a higherhorsepoweror out splinteringtheedges(page2a).An edgeguidewill makea ampereratingis probablyyour bestbet.

Even with its blade tilted to createa bevel. this 7 t/t-inch circular saw cuts deep to saw through l-inch-thick stock.

13

ANATOMY OF A CIRCULARSAW hereareapproximately 40 million I uortablecircularsawsin theUnited Statei.Theyvarywidelyin theirdesign, but all modelssharecertaincommon features;most importantly,they are

f

poweredby a motor connected to an arborassembly thatturnsa bladecounterclockwise. Dependingon the height or angleof thebaseplaterelativeto the blade,a sawcanbe setto cut stockof

While the 7 %-inch saw shownhereat right hasbeen the traditional choiceof most woodworkersbecause of its generousdepth-of-cut capacity-2 % inchesthe compact6-inch modelat left can alsoslicethrough a 2-by-4 at both 90" and 45".

differentthicknesses at a varietyofangles between45oand90o. Whenshoppingfor a circularsaw, keepseveralfactorsin mind. Most tools rangein horsepowerfromVzIo 2 Vzh.p. Geta sawwith at leastI horseoower. For thesakeofconvenience, thetoolshould havea comfortable handleand a balanceddesign. Makesurethatthedepthof-cut and bevelsettingsare easyto adjustandthatthe sawhasa large,stablebaseplatewith both a long straight edgeand a precisetilting mechanism. For safety's sake,selecta sawthat featuresa lock-offswitchthat must be depressed alongwith thetriggerto turn on thetool.Thiswillpreventaccidental startuDof themotor. Thire aretwo main designsavailable for settinga circularsaw'sdepthof cut. On pivot-foot saws,like the model shownon page15,the toolswivels up or downfrom a pointat thefront of the baseplate.The angleof the handle with thedepthof cut.On dropchanges footsaws, themotorandbladehousings areraisedor loweredstraightup or down relativeto the baseplate.The angleof the handleremainsconstant,a feature manyusersfind convenient.

CIRCUTAR SAWSAFETY TIPS o Avoidsteadying a workpiece byhandor propping it onyourknee;always clamp stockto a worksurface or sawhorses. lf t h eb l a d eb i n d sd u r i n g a c u t ,k i c k b a c k you canhurltheworkpiece backtoward unlessit is securely supported. . To keepa panelfromsagging in the middle a n dc a u s i ntgh eb l a d e tobind, support it all alongits lengthon a platformof 2-by-4s. . Unplug thesawbefore changing the bladeor making anyotheradjustments. . Donotuseihesawif eitherbladeguard is missing ordamaged; keepthetoolclean to ensure thattheguards remain ingood working order.

r Donotusea sawwithpartsthatare lnnsp nr d,ameood,

. Keepthe powercordoutof thesaw's cuttingpath.

o Makesurethebladeis notin contact withtheworkpiece whenyouiurnonthe saw.Allowthebladeto cometo fullspeed before feeding it intothestock.

. Donotforcethesawthrough a cut; . M a i n t a ianc o m f o r t a bbl ea,l a n c e d allowthebladeto cutat itsownspeed. stance whencutting; avoidoveneaching. . l f t h eb l a d eb i n d sd u r i n a g c u t ,d on o t . Always wearsafetyglasses whenoperliftthesawoutof thekerf.First,turnthe atingthesaw;because it cutsonthe sawoff,backthebladeup slowly and upstroke, thebladeproduces a shower allowit to stopspinning. of woodchips. . Makesurethatthelowerbladeguard . Keepyourhandsawayfromtheundersprings backoverthebladeat theendof sideof thebaseplatewhenthebladeis a cut before setting thesawdown. possible, spinning; whenever keepboth . Donotattempt hands onthesawthroughout a cutting to cutthrough nails;this operation. c a nc a u s ke i c k b a cakn dr u i na b l a d e .

I4

t-t

CIRCULARSAW

Loak-off ewltah Muat bo depreoaedbefore preaain7 triqgar awitch to 6tart motor Defih adjuatment, lever Used to set cuttinq dapth of blade

Trigger ewitah

Upperbladeguard Frotecta uaerfrom too of blade

Remote lower 6uard retraating lever Convaniantlyloaated near handle to retract lower7uard for operatione auch aa plun4ecuttinq

-o Auxiliary handle

Lowerguard retrarting Iever

Wrench Forarbornut. Commonly stored on 6aw

Eeveladjuetment knob Allowa base plate to be tilted for bevelcuta

Lower blade guard Retracta into upper 1uard aa blade advances into cut; aprinqa back ovar blada at dnd of cut

Line gulde --'/ Can be alianed with

cuttin7 lineon workpiecefor accuratecut

t5

AND ACCESSORIES CIRCULARSAWBLADE,S ith thedozensof specialty blades on the marketit is entirelvoossibleto transforma circularsawfrom a job siteworkhorse intoa precision cutting tool. Equippedwith a standard combination bladeand onesdesigned to cut soecific materials, a sawcancrossthroughhardcut and rip accurately panels wood,softwoodor manufactured suchasplp,vood. The cuttingabilityof a circularsaw bladedependson severalfactors.A blade'shook angle,whichdetermines how muchbiteit will take,is a keyvariable.(Theangleis formedby theinter-

sectionof oneline drawnfrom the tip of thearborhole of a toothto thecenter and one drawnoarallelto the tooth's face.)Thewidthof thekerfthatthecutis alsoimportantiso ting edgecreates too is the numberof teethper inch (TPI).A 40TPIcrosscut bladewill do its iob moreslowlvthan a 20 TPI combinationblade,for example,but thefinercut. toothedmodelwilloroducea cleaner Althoughall of ihe bladetypesillusin high-speed tratedbelowareavailable modelshavefor steel,carbide-tipped yearsbeenthefirstchoiceof themajorWhiletheyaremore ity of woodworkers.

expensive thantheirsteelcounterparts, aremoreeconomcarbide-tipped blades icalin thelongrun.Thesmalltipsof carbidealloyweldedontothebodiesof thesebladescanbe sharoened dozens of timesandhold theiridge up to 50 timeslongerthansteelblades. But evencarbide-tipped bladesdull with extendeduse.Smoking,burning, off-linecuttingandfrequentbindingare allsignsofa bladein needofsharpening. Thebestwayto keepa bladesharpis to choose therightonefor thematerialyou arecuttingandto avoidcuttinginto fastenersor accumulations of uitch.

BLADE TYPES Combination Blade The blade type uauallyouppliedwith the eaw;a qeneral' purpoae blade for rippin4and croeecuttin4.

Crossaut Blade Forfaet, amoof,hcuta acroee the qrain; the btade'eteeth are aharpenedon the face and back, forminq oharp cuLLinq pointo,

Hollow Ground Planer Blade For veryemooth rip cuta "rouu"Ltu and anq'lecuto; ideal for preciaioncabineLwork."fheblade'abody ia thinner than the hub and teeth, reducinqthe chanceof bindinqin the kerf.

Rip Blade Alao knownas a framin7 blade;the lar4e,hookedteeth make it ideal for faeL cuta alonq the grain.

Plywood Elade For amooth cuta in ptywoodand veneered stock; amall,pointed and finelyground teeth help reduce eplinterinq.

d

r,

4r):

,1

>ri

. a'.'rj

:*.t

un'n'

/..J.;

22s

"r

. , F ,

\*?

ryftp:'.'\ ; { /4\\ ry

^I.\J

-t,/ll

' i a 2 5 3 3 0{ K 3 9 7 } 4 )

I '/n Hollow ploner I /+ ground w o*

*:,: :lil"r":r.,';tx,$ii:;{ 1*"; s,ff

sun

SHARP 'ls" A' B WITHorAilo! r(it0ct(.0uT

0n:

*^

SAFElY

,ffi"l?b

t;'1[h] trBt st{ W'i"'^V t6

-

CIRCULARSAW

CHANGING A BLADE

Removing andinstalling blades Unplug thesaw,thensetit on itsside on a worksurface withthebladehousingfacingup.Retract the lowerblade guardand,gripping witha theblade rag,loosen the arbornutwiththe wrenchsuppliedwiththe saw(above). Remove the nutandtheouterwasher, thenslidethebladefromthearbor. To installa blade,placeit onthearbor withitsteethpointing in thedirection Install of bladerotation. thewasher and thenut,andtightenthemby hand. Holding thebladewiththerag,usethe wrench to givethe nutan additional quarter turn.Avoidovertightening.

1HO?TI? Referenaemarkefor aaauratn eute Somesaws do not orovidereferencemarksto helpyou aliqnlhe bladewith a cutlinq lineon a workpiece;olher machineshavelines Ihat may not be pefrectlyaliqned for a oarLiculareawblade.)olve the problemby addinqyourown marke.Cutinto a scrapboard, thenbacktheoawparllyou| of Nhekefi and unpluqthemachine. Makea markon'thetoe of Ehe base plate in linewilh lhe kerf, then fix a otrip of maokinqlape on the toe, ali7ninqito edqe wilh the mark.UeeIhe eame procedure to makeaddiNional markefor anqlecuto.

17

CIRCULARSAW

SAWACCESS()RIES CIRCUTAR Miter guide Guideeeaw for anqlecuto up to 60", Fits moat aawaand may be aecured to workpiecewith ecrewaor natls

Clampand tool guide Ueedas an edqe7uide fnr

rin

rt i.a

ar

arn66-

cuta; aelf-clamprnq

?rotraator guide Uaedto guideeaw for croogcut6 or anqle cute up to 70" Kerf aplitter HelpeprevenLbtndingof blade in kerf; placed in the kerf of longrip cute par|' way throuqh operation

KERF SPLITTER Instead of buyinga kerfsplitterlike theoneshownabovein the invenyoucaneasily toryof accessories, makeyourown.Refer to theinsetfor suggested dimensions. Choose %-inchhardboard forthe plywood splitterpieceand3/q-inch Fasten fortheshoulders. thethree pieces withscrews. To use together thejig,startthecut,turnoffthe saw,theninsertthesplitterin the kerfa fewinchesbehindthesaw. andconPullthesawbackslightly (\efl. Forparlictinuetheoperation ularlylongcuts,keepa fewkerf onhand, slipping theminto splitters thekerfaI2-Io 3-footintervals.

l8

CIRCULAR SAW

SOUARING THEBLADE Aligning thebladewiththebaseplate Afterpullingtheplug,setthesaw upside downon a worksurface with t h eb l a d ea t i t s m a x i m u m cutting depth(below). Retract the lowerblade guard, thenbuttthetwosidesof a try square against the baseplateand the bladebetween twoteeth(ieff). Thesquare should fit flushagainst the blade.lf thereis a gapbetween the two,loosen thebeveladjustment knob andtilt thebaseplateuntilit touches thesquare, thentighten theknob.

oG

SETTING THECUTTING DEPTH

Adjusting bladeheight Withthesawunplugged, retract the lowerbladeguardand setthebaseplateontheworkpiece, butting thebladeagainst theedgeof thestock.Whencuttingthrough a workpiece, set thebladeto clearthestockbyaboutr/q-inch. Formostblades, onetoothandat leastpartof theadjoining gullets shouldprojectbelowtheworkpiece; if not,sawdust willfailto clearthe (above, kerf,causingburning.Fora pivot-footsaw left),

release thedepthadjustment lever. Then,keeping thebase plateflatontheworkpiece, holdthehandle andpivotthesaw upor downuntilthe bladereaches thecorrect depth.Tighten the lever.Fora drop-foot model(above, righil,loosen the depth adjustment knob,thenholdthebaseplatesteady asyoupull up or press downonthehandle. Whenyouhavethebladeat thedepthyouneed, tighten theknob.

r9

-t

BASICCUTS anarhetheryouarecrosscutting rowboardor rippinga sheetof plywood,alwaysprotectyourselffrom kickbackby clampingstockto a work surfacebeforecuttingit with a circular saw.Whenapplyingtheclamps,protect

withwood thesurfaces of theworkpiece includekeeping pads.Othersafeguards sawbladesclean,settingthe cutting depthno deeperthanyou need,and makingsurethatthestockyouarecutting is dry andfreeof anyfasteners.

To getaccurateresults,cut with the bladeiustto thewastesideof thecutting liire.Edgeguidescanalsoimprove guides precision. Althoughcommercial in varioussizesandat a areavailable widerangeof prices,a straightboard will serve clampedto yourworkpiece justaswellfor mostjobs. Sincecircularsawbladescut on the occursonthevisupstroke, splintering Getin thehabit iblefaceof aworkpiece. of cuttingyourstockgoodfacedown. If you areworkingwith hardwoodor plywood,whichhastwogood veneered faces,scorethecuttinglinewith a utility knifebeforemakingthecut. Some mmmtcialgtidesun beactendto rip a edupto8feet,enabkngyou 4-by-8panelin tvvo.Theoneshown in thisphotois moresuitable for It fmnra chmpsundncrosscutting. guidethat thedevice secure nmththe eliminatingtheneed toa workpiece, clamps. for separate

CROSSCUTTING Cutting stockto length Align to sawhorses. Clamptheworkpiece thebladewiththecuttingline,thenclamp guideto theworkpiece a straightedge flushagainst the saw'sbaseplate.The guideshouldbelonger thanthewidthof the to the edgesof and square workpiece to set up the Take care also the stock. with not interfere that they will clampsso you Turn on the make the cut. themotoras plate f lush against sawwiththe base theguideandthe bladeclearof thestock. firmlywith Then,gripping the handles into saw steadily bothhands,feedthe theworkoiece.

20

CIRCULAR SAW

JIG CROSSCUTTIl{G jig make, theshop-built Simple to your will that shownat right ensure crosscuts aresquareto theedgesof the stock.Select%-inchplywood plyfor the edgeguideand3A-inch woodforthefence.Thedimensions onthewidthof the of thejig depend stockyouwillbecuttingandthewidth of yoursaw'sbaseplate. Maketheedgeguideat leastaslong and asthewidthof yourworkpiece wideenough to clampto the board withoutgettingin thewayof thesaw thecut.Thefence asyouaremaking wideand shouldbeabout4 inches widthof longerthanthecombined theedgeguideandthebaseplateof thesaw.Screwthetwooartsof the jigtogeiher, with a try checking to makesurethattheyare square perfectlyperpendicular.

To usethejig,clampit to the workpiece asyouwouldfor a standardcrosscut(page20), making surethe bladeis heldin alignment withthecuttingmarkon theworkpiece.Thefenceshouldalways be keptflushagainst theedgeof the workpiece. Runthesawalongthe

2l

edgeguideto makethe cut. (The f i r s tu s eo f t h ej i g w i l l i m m e d i a t e l yt r i m t h e e n do f t h e f e n c e f l u s hw i t ht h e b l a d e . ) Forsubsequent cuts,clampthe jig to theworkpiece, aligning theend ofthefencewiththecuttingmark on vourstock.

CIRCULAR SAW

RIPPING

lll lltlllillllrlllllltlllltllltll]illtlll1 illttlllultllllfilllll fiI] 1HO?Tt? Extendin6 a commercial edgeguide Commercial edgequideeare oflen Loo ehorl to Vrovide orL,eoVecially ?ro?er eupV for lonqrip cuto. )ne anowerie to makelhe guidelonqer. Cut an B-inch-lonqetriVof 3/+-inch Vlywood, Drilltwo screwholesLhroughthe edgequide'o f e n c e , L h eane c u r e t h ea u x i l i a rqyu i d e i np l a c e .

22

Cutting a longworkpiece to width I n s t a lal c o m m e r c i aeld g eg u i d eo n t h e s a w ,t h e na l i g nt h e b l a d ew i t h t h e c u t t i n g l i n eo n t h e b o a r dB . u t tt h e e d g e g u i d e ' sf e n c ea g a i n stth e e d g eo f t h e . olding w o r k p i e cteh,e nl o c ki t i n p l a c eH t h e s a wf i r m l y ,f e e dt h e b l a d ei n t ot h e b o a r dk, e e p i n tgh e e d g eg u i d ef e n c e f l u s ha g a i n stth e s t o c k .T o p r e v e n t t h e b l a d ef r o mb i n d i n gi n a l o n gw o r k piece,turn off the sawa few inchesinto t h e c u t a n d i n s e r at k e r fs p l i t t e rP . ull t h e s a wb a c ka b i t ,t h e nt u r n i t o n a n d continue thecut.

-

CIRCULAR SAW

THICKSTOCK CUTTING

passes stockwithtwointersecting Sawing Tocrosscut stockthickerthanthemaximumbladedepthof yoursaw,make sidesof intersecting cutsfromopposite First,marka cuttingline theworkpiece. on onefaceof thestock,thenusea try s o u a rteo e x t e ntdh el i n ea r o u ntdh e on Settheworkpiece otherthreefaces, Align andclampit in position. sawhorses withthecutting line,thenbutt theblade t es a w ' sb a s e a n e d g eg u i d ea g a i n st h plateandclampit to theworkpiece. Set morethan thecuttingdepthat slightly of thestock,then one-half thethickness Fliptheworkpiece makethecuI(above). over,reposition theclamps andtheedge guide, thencomplete thecut.

ffiIItlllllI}llll]llrlllllllllflllllllllfillllllr]lllllrffilllrfill 1HO?Tt? Avoiding eplintering Tlywoodie

parficular-ff iy pronero \

e?ltnTennq when cuL with

a circularsaw. \ AVlywoodbladewill helV,buL anotheroolut ionis f,o reinlorcelhe woodsurlacewilh aolnp t aoe.V arkLhe of maskina cullina lineonlhe taoe and makeLhecut . Thet apewillkeep the edgeeof thekerl clean.

23

N \.

CIRCULAR SAW

CUTTING LARGE PANELS Ripping To prevent in the a panelfromsagging middld euring a c u ta n dc a u s i ntgh e bladeto bind,support thestockon a platform of sawhorses and2-by-4s as shownat left.Makesurethattwoof t h eb o a r dws i l lb ea b o u3t i n c h eosn either sideof thecuttingline.Position thepanel onthe2-by-4s andclampit in place. Forextraaccuracy, clampa guideto Ihe panel@age straightedge 25).Aligning thebladewiththecuttingline,cutslowly while andsteadily g u i d i n tgh es a ww i t hb o t hh a n d s . Insertkerfsplitters asyougoto keep frombinding. theblade

Crosscutting 2-by-4s faceupontheshop Setenough floorto support thepanelat 12-inch intervals; theboards shouldbea few feetlonger thanthewidthof thepanel. Position thestockontheboards, shiftingtwoof themto restabout3 inches o ne i t h esr i d eo f t h ec u t t i n gl i n eT .o makethecut,dropto onekneeand alignthebladewiththecuttingmark. Gripping thesawwithbothhands, cut s t e a d iw l yh i l ec a r e f u lm l ya i n t a i n i n g (right). yourbalance Asmuchaspossible,keepyourweighton the2-by-4 immediately to thesideof thecutting line.rather thanontheoanelitself.

24

CIRCULAR SAW

Edqeetrip

STRAICHTEDGE GUIDE guide Theshop-built straightedge shownabovemakesit easyto rip panelslikeplywood manufactured Referto the withgreataccuracy. illustration forsuggested dimensions. Makethe basefrom%-inchplyplywood for the wood;use3/q-inch edgestrip.GIuethestripparallel

its edge to the base,offsetting about4 inchesin fromoneedge of the base.Trimthe baseto its proper widthforyoursawbybutting the thetool'sbaseplateagainst jig'sedgestripandcuttingalong the base. To usethejig, makea cutting m a r ko nt h ep a n e lt ,h e nc l a m pt h e

25

stockto a platformof 2-by-4srestingsturdily atopsawhorses. Clamp l , l i g n i ntgh e t h eg u i d et o t h ep a n e a trimmededgeof the basewiththe markon theworkoiece. Makethecut asyouwoulda standardrip cuI (page22), keeping the thesaw'sbaseplateflushagainst theoperation. edgestripthroughout

CIRCULARSAW

llllfltlllllltffilllltlltrIttlll|lltl|Illlll]lltl|llltlfll'llll lll 1HO?Tt? Carryinglargepanelo ?lywood,particleboard and hardboardpanelo,Varticulady4-by-bo and lon1er,can be heavyand awkwardLo carry.A olinqf aehioned from roVewillmakeLheloadeasierto bear.To makeeucha eling, Lietoqelher Ihe endeof a 2O-fooLlenqbh of liqhLl/z-inch rope. With NhepanelflaL on the floor,loopLhe ropearoundlwo adjacent,cornero and qatherLhe lwo slrandg near the middle,wrapp i n 7 l h e mw i N h ducttaVe Noform . old a h a n d l eH onNoIheta?ea6 you qatherNhe paneu l punder yourarm.

MAKING ANGLE CUTS Using a guideto cutmiters Clamptheworkpiece to sawhorses, then guideor a miterguideto seta protractor theangleyouwishto cut.Alignthesaw bladewiththecuttinglineontheworkpiece.Placethe protractor on thestock, g d g ea g a i n st h h o l d i n igt sg u i d i n e te saw'sbaseplateandits fenceagainst t h ee d g eo f t h ew o r k p i e cG e .r a s tph e s a wa n dt h eg u i d ef i r m l yw h i l ey o ua r e making thecut.

26

-

CIRCULAR SAW

Making a bevelcut Loosen thebeveladlustment knobon thesawandsetthebladeto thedesired angle, thentighten theknob.Clamp the workpiece to sawhorses, making surethat n o t h i nw g i l lb e i n t h ew a yo f t h eb l a d e d u r i n tgh ec u t .A l i g nt h eb l a d e w i t ht h e c u t t i n gm a r kt,h e nb u t ta n e d g eg u i d e flushagainst thesaw's baseplate.Clamp t h eg u i d et o t h eb o a r dM . ake t h ec u ta s youwoulda standard crosscut, holding thesawf irmlywithbothhands andkeepingthebaseplateflatontheworkpiece.

Cutting a taper Setthestockon a worksurface withthe several inches off cuttinglineextending theworkpiece sothat theedge.Position y o uw i l lb ea b l et o s t a r t h ec u ta t t h e rather endof theboard, thanon rtsedge. Lineupthebladewiththecuttingmark, thenclampanedgeguideontopof the stockflushagainst thesaw'sbaseplate; measure, if necessary, to makesurethat theguideis parallel to theline.Make the cutasyouwoulda standard ripcut.Keep a f i r mh o l do nt h es a we, s p e c i a n l le yar theendof thecut,whenthewastesecprogrestionsupporting thetoolbecomes narrower. srvery

27

-

CIRCULARSAW

MITER ANDCR(ISSCUTTIIIIG GUIDE Fora multipurpose edgeguidethat is helpfulin making either45' miter cutsor crosscuts, try thejig shown at right.lt canbe madefroma pieceof 3/q-inch plywood.Refer to the illustration for suggested dimensions. Cuta triangle withone90" angle (Tomakea jig andtwo45oangles, for30oor60'angles, thesidesshould be 12, 16 and20 inches*orany othervariation witha 3-4-5ratio.) Screwthefencesto thebase,oneon eachside,opposite oneof the45" angles. Thefencesmustbeflush withtheedgeof thejig base. Tousethe jigfora mitercut,first clamptheworkpiece to sawhorses. Thenalignthebladeof thesawwith thecuttinglineon thestockand buttthelongsideof thejig against the saw'sbaseplate.Thefence on thebottomof theguidewill need to beflushagainst theworkpiece. Clampthejig in place,andmake the cut asyouwoulda standard miter.Keepthesawflushagainst thejig throughout theoperation. Tomakea crosscut, usetheother sideof thejig asyourguide.

28

-

ADVANCEDCUTS I little ingenuity-along with the jigsand setups-can A appropriate greatlyexpandthe versatilityof a circularsaw.Althoughthe tool is not a substitutefor a tablesawor radialarm saw,it cando much morethan simple dimensioning of stock. Whenit is inconvenient to usea larger stationarysaw you cancallon your

portabletool to cut someof the joints projects,for instance. for cabinetmaking Dadoes,rabbetsand miters can be formedwith precisionapproaching that ofa stationarysaw For cleanerresults andlesstearout,usea fine-toothblade whenperformingsuchtasks. Althoughthe circularsawmay not alwayscut wood asquicklyasthe table

sawor radialarm sawthetool'sportability allowsit to work in placesthat are off limits to the stationarymachines. The sawcan plungeinto the middle of a panel,for example, cuttinga rectangularholeout of it whileleavingthe edgesintact (page30).You can also sawarcsor circlesby makinga seriesof tangentcuts.

DADOES CUTTING

'l

kerfswithinthedadooutline Cutting I Markthewidthof thedadoonthefaceof thestock,then clampit to a worksurface. Marka depthlrneontheedgeof pointandsetthecuttingdepth theworkpiece asa reference of the bladeappropriately forthedadoyouaremaking(page 19).Align the bladewithoneof thewidthmarksandclamp an edgeguidein placeto keepthesawfromcuttingbeyond

thatmark.Repeat fortheothersideof thedado.Gripping the sawfirmly,ridethebaseplatealongoneguideto cutanedge of thedado.Thenrunthesawalongthesecond support to cut To remove thechannel's otheredge(above). as muchwaste as possible, sawa number of kerfsbetween thetwocuts,workingat roughly %-inchintervals.

29

-

CIRCULARSAW

r) Chiseling outthewaste L l,old,ngawoodchiselat a slight angleasshown, strikethehandle with a wooden mallet to splitofftheridges between the edgesof the dado(/eff). Makesurethatthebeveled sideof the c h i s eilsf a c i n gu p .A f t e trh eb u l ko f thewastehasbeenremoved. oare awayat thebottom of thedadountil it is smooth andeven.

MAKING A PTUNGE CUT 1 Bitingintothestock I Clamo theworkoiece to sawhorses andaligntheblade withoneof thecutt i n gl i n e sT. h e nc l a m pa ne d g eg u i d e to theworkpiece flushagainst thebase plateof thesaw.Maketheguidelonger thanthecuttingmarkandhighenough t o g u i d et h es a ww h e ni t i st i l t e du p . Retracting thelowerbladeguardwith onehandandgripping thehandle firmly withtheother,restthetoeof the baseplateontheworkpiece andpivot thesawforward to raisethebladecompletely clearof thestock.Withtheback of thebladedirectly above thestartof t h ec u t t i n g l i n e t, u r no nt h es a wa n d slowlylowerthecuttingedgeintothe slock(right), keeping the baseplateflush against theedgeguide.Oncethesaw is f latontheworkoiece. release the bladeguardandpushthetoolforward. Whenthebladereaches theendof the cuttingline,turnoffthesaw,letthe bladestop,andpivotthetoolforward to lift it outof thekerf. Makeplunge cuts along thethreeremaining cuttinglines, repositioning theedgeguideasnecessary.

30

-

CIRCULAR SAW

fllllllIIlllllllll"ill"llll flllllllllllll}llllIlIl lll"'llf"fil'1ll-lll 1HO?Tt? Reducingplungecut,eplintering Leltinq Lhewaste pieceeaq and finallylall lo the ohoptloor when Nhelael cuL deNacheeil from your workpieceinvariablyresulls in oplinlerinqof the cut,edqeo. Ort cleanerplungecuto by layinq a boardacrosl Nheslock and nailinait to Nhewaole oiecebefore makingthe linalcul.YoucanLhenlifL outlhe waeLepiecewiNhoulmarrinq the edaeeof the cuXoul.

;-,-:l.-

31

/) Completing cut theplunge I Because of its circularblade,a portable power sawwillleave a small amount of wasteat thebeginning and endof eachplunge cut.Square the witha sabersaw(page32) corners ora handsaw,making surethatyou keepthebladevertical asyoucut.

SABERSAM he sabersawis oftenlikenedto its newestmodelsfeatureelectronicmotors largershopcousin,the bandsaw. thatcanmaintaina constantspeedunder Althoughfewwoodworkers wouldconchanging loadconditions. And blade siderusingthe portabletool to resawa manufacturers offer a wide varietyof hardwoodplankor carveout a cabriole sturdyblades suitable for anysituation. leg,thecomparison is aptin otherways. Making precise,splinter-free cuts Wth its relatively narrowblade,thesaber requiresattentionto severalfactors.A sawmakesstraightandcurvedcutswith keyvariableischoosing thebestbladefor equaleaseandaccuracy. Aidedby comthejob athand(page36).Forstraightand jigs,it cancarve mercialor shop-made angledcuts,anedgeguidewill beof great out a perfectcircle.And like the band assistance in keepingthe bladein line. saw,the sabersawcanbe setup to cut Sincethe sabersawbladecutson the identical copies ofa curvedpatiern. upstroke,thereis a tendencyfor splinIn certainsituations, a portablesaw teringto occuron thetop faceof a workmayevenbea betterchoicethanitsstaWith thehelpof a commercial circlepiece.Onewayto counteract thisproblem tionarycounterpart. Ifyou areworking cuttingjig,a sabersawcompletes a is to slowtherateat whichyou makethe with a long boardor wide panelthat perfect360"cut in a pieceof r/+-inch cut.And rememberto buff thebottom might requirea time-consuming plywood.Toreducesplinteringon the setup of yoursaw'sbaseplateoccasionally with on a sawtable,it is sometimes simplerto outsidesurfaceof thestock,thispiece steelwool to removedirt, grime and carrythe sabersawto the work for a wasclamped with itsbestfacedown. burrsthatcouldscratchtheworkoiece. oneendofthe blade cuickcut.Because Thereis no prescribed wayto grip a ii free,the cuttingedgecanbe plungedinto a workpiecefor sabersaw.The mannerin which you handlethe tool will interiorcutson whicha bandsawwouldhaveto beginat the dependon thedesignof yourparticularmodel.Manycutscan edgeof the stock(page44). beperformed with onehandon thehandlesqueezing thetrigThesabersawhascomea longwaysinceits introduction. ger,whilethe otherhandis seton theworkpiecesafelyaway Woodworkerscomplainedthat the first generationof saws from theblade.Otherwoodworkers preferto keepboth hands wereplaguedby inconsistent motor speeds and bladesthat on thesaw:oneon thehandleandtheotherwrappedaround tendedto bend,makingit difficult to followa cuttingline.The thefront ofthe bodyor barrelofthe tool.

The sabersaw'sunicluedesignallowsthe bladeto be pltmgedinto a workpieceat any point along a cutfing line. Restingthe baseplateJlat on the stockduring the cut keepsthe blade squareand will yield cleanedges.

JJ

ANATOMY OF A SABERSAW

On this scrollingsaw, the blade can be rotated360" by either turning a knob on top ofthe saw bodyor by applying simple hand pressure.

I ll sabersawsconvertthe rotary A actionof anelectricmotorinto the up-and-downmovementof a blade, designedto cut on the upstroke.Tool on manufacturers offerthreevariations this basicprinciple.On reciprocatingthestandardfor actionmachines--once, sabersaws-theblademovesstraightup saws-now anddown.On orbital-action the most commonvariety-the blade movesslightlyforwardon the upstroke, then drawsawayon the downstroke. Manymodels,liketheoneshownopposite,featureboth options,permitting you to chooseeitherreciprocating or orbitalblademovement. Orbital-actioncuttingwasdeveloped to makesabersawswork moreefficiently. By movingawayfrom theworkpiece on the downstroke,the bladegenerates lessfriction.Thebladecutsmorecuickly,but it entersthestockat a slightingle, increasing theriskoftearoutandsplintering.Hence,thegreatertheamountof orbitalmovement,thefasterandrougher theappropriate settheresults. Selecting ting on your sawinvolvesa compromise betweenspeedand qualityof cut. A third type of sawis the scrolling model(photo,left), wl'rchfeaturesablade that canrotatein a completecirclewith-

in its housing,makingthesawparticularlywellsuitedto intricatecontourcutting. Aidedby an edgeguide,scrolling sawsarealsocapableof makingprecise rip cuts. one Whatever typeof sawyouchoose, particularlydesirablefeatureis variable speed,controlledby eithertriggerswitch pressure or a separate dial.This added controlallowsyou to matchthe cutting soeedof the bladeto the stock.You wouldgenerally usea higherbladespeed with thickerstock. Alsolook for a sawwith a solidbase platethat will keepthe bladesquareto thestockfor standardcuts,andonethat canbetiltedup to 45"for bevelcuts.The tool shouldincludea roller guidethat supportsthebackofthe bladeasit cuts. Somemodelsalso featurea sawdust blower to keepthe cutting line from and on-toolstorbecomingobscured, andbaseplate ageofthe blade-changing wrench. adjustment For fine cuttingwith reducedsplintering,somemodelsincludea removableplasticinsertfeaturinga slotthatfits snuglyaroundthe blade,By bearing downon thecuttingline,theinserthelps to eliminatetearouton the top faceof thestock.

TIPS SABERSAWSAFETY . Donotusethe sawif anyof its parts areloose or damaged.

r Toavoidvibration, support theworkpiece ascloseto thecuttinglineaspossible.

. Keepsawblades sharp, cleanand undamaged; do notusea bladeunless it is in goodcondition.

o Keeothe oowercordoutof thesaw's cuttingpath;do notusethetoolif the cordis frayed.

. Unplug changing a thesawbefore bladeor making anyotheradjustments to thetool. . Installa bladethatis appropriate for youarecutting. thematerial . Wearsafety glasses anda dustmask forcuttingoperations thatgenerate a largevolume of woodchipsor sawdust. . Always clampstockto a worksurface.

. Makesurethebladeis notin contact withtheworkpiece whenyouturnonthe saw.Allowthebladeto cometo full speedbeforefeedingit intothestock.

o Donotforcethesawthrough a cut; thiscansnapa bladeor causeit to veer . Maintain offcourse. Allowthebladeto cutat its balanced a comfortable, stance whencutting; avoidover-reaching. ownspeeo. . Always keepthesawbaseplateflush against theworkpiece duringa cut.

o Turnoffthesawbefore the backing bladeoutof a cut.

r Keepyourhandsawayfromtheundersideof thesawwhenit is operating.

. Makesurethatanykeysandadjusting wrenches areremoved fromthetool before turningit on.

. Donottoucha bladeimmediately afierusingthesaw;thecuttingedge canbecome veryhot.

J+

r Stayalert.Donotoperate thetoolwhen youaretired.

-

SABERSAW

Tri4gerloak button Loakotriq1er ewitch in depreaaedpoeition for continuouaaawing

Chip cover Deflecta wood chioa and oawduat away from operator and auttinq line

Blade clamp

Orbital -aati o n eelecto r 9et6 blade for reciprocatinq action and three differont aettinqa for orbital eawing

Baae plate

Circle-cutting guide Fivot point at one end is driven into center of daaired aircle; other and locka onto aaw baae plate. Diatance betweenblade and pivot point equala circle radiua

Edge guide Guidea saw for rippinq. Arm locka onto 6aw base plate; fenae ridea along atock

-

SABERSAWBLADES I lthoughtheskillyoubringto a in A projectwill alwaysbereflected thesinglemostimportant theresults, factorin workingwith a sabersawis selection of the properblade.Most sabersawsaresuppliedwith a combinationbladethatworkswellfor many cuts.But sincethebladesfor thistool because arerelativelyinexpensive-and they tend to breakfrequently-you on handin shouldkeepanassortment of a varietyof materials anticipation Theillustrationbelow andsituations. providesa samplingof thebladesthat for thesabersaw. areavailable

Whenbuyinga blade,payparticuthe lar attentionto its composition, numberof teeth,thelengthandwidth of theblade,andthemethodof mountin highing.Mostbladesareavailable speedsteel,but bimetaltypes-with high-speed steelteethweldedontoa flexiblebody-are moredurable. Blades with alargernumberof teeth forfinecutperinch(TPI)aredesigned nartingandtendto createa relatively lesstearout; they rowkerf,andproduce alsocutmoreslowlythanmodelswith fewerTPI.Lenghvariesfroml3/sto12 sizeis 3 to 4 inches. but thestandard

incheslong.Not all sawsacceptevery bladelength,soconsultyourowner's manualfor therangeof sizesappropriateforyourtool. all sabersawblades Until recently, with a universal weremanufactured shank-meaningthat they wereall mountedin thesameway.In aneffort tangandhook to extendbladelongevity, (inset,below). mountings weredeveloped Althoughsomemodelswill acceptthe shankof anyblade,otherswill not. checkthemanuBeforebuyingblades, for your al for theshanktypessuitable sabersaw.

TYPES BLADE MOUNTING METHODS BTADE Univeraal

Hook

Tang

Combination blade All-purpoaeblade auitable for moat atraiaht and curvedcute

Knife-edge blade AIso knownaa knife blade:toothlesa cuttin7 edqe deai7nedto cut very thin wood

Offeet blade Ita deoi1n allowe blade to out fluah to perpendiculareurface; wellsuited for cabinetworkand pocket cute

Grit blade Toobhleaablade with tunqeten' carbide particlee bondedto cuttinq ed6e;ouitable for cuttin7 veneer

Reveree-tooth blade Cute on downatroke to eliminate eplinterin7 on top face of workpiece; ideal for veneer

Metal autting blade Cuts veneerand thin pWood with minimalriakof tearout

36

SABERSAW

CHANGING A BLADE

llltil[lltlllllllllll rllllll]llllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllll 1HO?TI? Extendingblade life lf moeLof Nheolockyou cut io 3/+inchor lhinner,Nhetop Lhirdof your bladewillbelhe onlyportion ehowinqwear.To makebef,f,eruse of the full len7bhof lhe cuLLinq e d g e , i n e L aalnl a u x i l i a rsyh o eo n N h e baeeplate of lhe 6awoncethe top lhirA of a bladebeqinoto dul|To makelhe shoe, lhe eame cutra pieceof l/z-inchVlywood lenqLhas lhe baoeplate and eliqhtlywider. Holdthe woodagainotIhe plateand markthe outline of the notch cul oul for Ihe blade.)aw ouLLhe notch and screwLheauxiliaryehoein place,makinqoureIhaN lhe backof the bladeis fluehaqainotthebackof rhe nobch.(lf Nhebladeio noLoupported,it may wanderand breakwhenyou uoethe oaw.J

37

Installing andsquaring theblade Unplug thesaw,thensetit on a work Forthemodelshown, removing surface. loosening theclamp thebladeinvolves setscrew withthehexwrench suoolied w i t ht h es a wa n dp u l l i n og u tt h eo l d (Onsomemodels, is blade. thewrench attached to thepower cord.)Insert the newcutting edgein theclampwithits teethfacingthefrontof thesawandits backseated against therollerguide. (left).Useatry Tightenthe setscrew whether souare to ascertain theblade is square withthebaseplate.lf not, witha loosen thebaseplatesetscrew hexwrench andswivel theplateuntil thesquare. thebladebuttsflushagainst (inset). Tighten thesetscrew

STRAIGHTCUTS t q J ith rr firnrh.rnd,.t slow,steady 1' b' feedrate,rnd a straight cuninglile you canmakean on your workpiece, andripsusinga saber crosscut accurate Partofthe attractionof sawfreehand. quickly thistool,afterall,is that it cr.rts andwith a minimumof setuptime. you canmake For addedprecision, useof anedgeguidewith yourtool.Most sarvbaseplateshaveholesmachinedin themto aiceptthearmofsucha guide. The fenceof the deviceis setfor the cuttingwidth,thenthearn-t appropriate thelengthof is fixedin place.However, islimited,makmostcommercialguides for r,irtuallyany ing themimpractical andfor rip ctttsin widestock. crossclrt As shorvnat right ind on page39,yor.i canalsoguidethe sarvwith a straight edge,suchasa boardor a try square. rvhenmakingstraight Forbestresults if cnts,installa wideblade,especially thick stock. you are sirwingthror.rgh Makesurethebladeis longenoughto cutthroughthewoodin onepass. Resistthe temptationto hold the stocklvith your freehand asyou are cuttine.Takethe an extramomentto to a work the workpiece clamp-down avoidingtheriskof a spoiledcut surface, or an accident.

CR()SSCUTTING

asa guide a trysquare Using sothatthecuttinglineis theboard arranging thestockto a worksurface, Clamp withthecuttingmark,thenbuttone theedgeof thetable.Aligntheblade beyond plate. of the Makesurethatthehandle thesaw'sbase against edgeof a trysquare the stock, clear of Withthesawblade theedgeof thestock. isflushagainst square (above) workpiece intothe edgesteadily Feedthecutting thetrigger. squeeze rillltltlillilllllilliilllllillllllllillllillllillillllllllllllllll

$ ru ru $ u ul ill {Ij liJltl ul ul l$ lil ul l$ ul lii 1HO?Tt? oplintering Reducing I o r e d u c et e a r o u l , y o u c a n e i L h e r eaw Ef,ockwiLh its good f ace down, score Lhe cuf'LinqlinewiXha uNili|y knife or cover lhe cuf'linq line wilh

A pieceo.fnlrskittgtopeopplied alortg tlrcruttitrgline will reduccsplitttcrirrg r/ / i, rS. wI ri Ic S'orr o rt r ipp i rtt (),'('/'o.iscr

a otrip of t aVe.Oneolher oVLionio Io inslallan anli-NearouL 1iqon lhe of Ihe baeeplate.Thejiq und,erside ehoeshown is similarIo lhe auxiliary on ?aqe37, bul Nhenotchtor the blade io onlyas wideae Nhekertof Lhebladeyou on lhe Nhejiq exertrs preeeure are ueinq.The s t o c kw i l lk e e pe p l i n t e r i nNqoa m i n i m u m .

3B

-

SABERSAW

RIPPING edgeguide Using a commercial making sure Clamp downtheworkpiece, theedge thatyourcuttinglineis beyond Install a commercial of theworksurface. e d g eg u i d eo nt h es a wt,h e na l i g nt h e Butt bladewiththemarkontheboard. theguideagainst theedgeof theworkpiece, Holding thenlockit in place. the sawfirmly,feedthebladeintotheboard, making surethatthefencestaysflush against theedgeof thestock.

Using a shop-made edgeguide you lf arerippinga boardtoo w i d ef o r a c o m m e r c ieadl g e orridp rrcpe - c- .t ,r -: i. ob h. ,i .- p- Jr g e o

b o a r dt o k e e pt h e b l a d ei n l i n e (below). Theguidecanbe secured w i t ht h e s a m ec l a m p st h a t h o l d the stockto the worksurface.

39

ANGLECUTS -f

h. baseplateon mostsabersaws I canbetiltedto eithersideuDto an angleof 45o,enabling thetoolto make both beveland compoundcuts.Some modelsincludea gaugethat indicates the bevelangle,but you shouldalways makea testcut to confirm that the saw is setfor the angleyou need. Because the sawbladewill be in contactwith moreof thewoodsurface, use a slowerfeedratewhen makingthese anglecuts.Forthesamereason,it is generallya goodideato usea widerblade on the sawia thin bladewill be more proneto gettingtwisted.Although any youwill anglecut canbemadefreehand, getbetterresultsif you takethe time to setup an edgeguide.

Thesabersawk capableof maki ng compound cuts-saw ing through a board with the blade presentedat anglesother than 90orelative to both theface and edgeof the stock. Two setup proceduresare required: The baseplate has to be tihed to the appropriatebevelangle,and an edgeguide has to be clamped to the workpieceto establish the miter angleyou need.

GUIDING CUTS()NTHEDIAGONAL

guide Making a mitercutwitha protractor Clamp theworkpiece making to a worksurface, certain that guideto the thecuttinglineisclearof thetable.Seta protractor youwishto cut,thenalignthesawblade angle withthecutting line.Place therulededgeof theguideagainst thesaw'sbase plate;buttitsotherarmagainst theedgeof theworkpiece. Gripping thesawandprotractor firmly,makethecut.

40

Cutting bevels withanedgeguide Loosen thesetscrew ontheunderside of thebaseolate.then setthebladeto thedesired angle, andtighten thesetscrew. Thesetupandcuttingprocedure arethesameaswhenyouare guide(page ripping lumber witha shop-made 39.

CURVEDCUTS -l- h. sabersawisoneof thefewpowI er toolsadeptat cuttingcurves. However, you needto keepa fewthings in mind whenyou aremakingsuchcuts. \Mhetheryou area cuttinga tight curve witha scrolling model,or usinga standard orbital-actionor reciprocating machineto form a gentlecurve,remember to feedslowly.Cuttingtoo rapidly canbendor breaktheblade. A commonnitfallisbladestrain.This typicallyoccriswhenthe backof the bladehitsthesideof thekerfasit rounds a corner.Theresultcanbe a twistedor brokenblade,or a bladethat simply bindsin thecut,marringtheworkpiece or forcingyou to backthe bladeout of thekerf.Thecauseis invariablytheuse of a bladethat is too widefor thecurve beingcut.The remedyis a narrower cutsrunnins from the bladeor release edgeof the workpieceto tlie tightest

Thebestwayto avoidbindingwlrcn theedgeof theworkpieceis a slrcrt distnnce fronr theurttirrypath is to veer offthecuttirrglineand sawto the thenconrcltnck edgeof theworkpiece; at andcontinuethecut a gertlerangle.

partsofthe curve.I{atherthantheblade bindingin thekerfat thesepoints,the wastewill fall away,givingthe cutting edgesomeroor.nto maneuver. Like the band saw,the sabersalvis Althoughyou usefulfor cuttingcircles. both storecanmakesuchcutsfi'eehand, jigs (pnge43) boughtand shop-made will improveprecision. In eithercase, makesureyou secure thestockto a work Depending on whetherthecirsurface. stockrvill be cle or the surrounding the finishedproduct,yolrcaugetthe bladeto the cuttingline by makinga plungecvt (pnge44),boringa hole(pnge out of the sur45),or sawinga rvedge roundingstock. Beforestartinga cut,makesurethat thecuttinglineis clearlyrrarkedon the ivorkpiece. Check,too,thatanyclamps thestockarenot in the usedto secure pathof thesaw.

FREEHAND CUTTING A CURVE

Cutting a gentle curve in thekerf,makerelease cuts Tokeeptheblade frombinding turns.Beginby fromtheedgeof theworkpiece to thetightest theblade withthecuttinglineat theendoredgeof aligning guiding Feed thesawintothestock, thetool theworkpiece. left).Fora cut likethe slowly to keepthebladeon line(above,

o n es h o w nh e r e ,s a wt o t h e f i r s t r e l e a s ceu t ; o n c et h e w a s t e f a l l sa w a y t, u r n o f f t h e s a w .R e s u m ea t t h e n e x tp o i n tw h e r e the edgeof the stockandworkbetween thecuttingmarkcontacts releasecuts (above,right). Completethe lob by sawingback f r o mt h e o o o o s i t e n do f t h e l i n et o t h e f i n a lr e l e a sceu t .

4l

-

SABERSAW

lll lllrllrlljlirlltljllfilllltllllllllllltlll llllfllllllllll lll lllr 5HO?TI? Makingreleaseandtangent aute DeVending on Nhecurveyou are cuN"otrrai4hten tinq, you may needLo oul" the sabersaw bladedurinqthe cuL.)therwiee,you riekbindinqlhe bladein the kerf.Fora curvethat, willleavea concavearc in a workoiece (right,above),makea eeriesof otrraiqhN releaseculs lrom the end of the stock to Nheculling line.Ae NhebladeroundsNhecontours and reacheslhe releaeecutre,waste Vieceowillfall away,qivinqtheblade roomNolurn.Fora convex arc (ri7ht, below),beqin at oneendofNhecutLinqline,buL ao 6oonaelhe bladebeqinoto bind,veeroff Io Ihe ed4eor endof the ebock. Thenreturnto lhe cuttinq line,conlinuinqin Xhiefaehion unNilthe cut,io comVlebed,

FREEHAND ARTISTRY WITHA SCROLLING SAW path Following anintricate lf theoperation startswitha straight cut, feedthesawintothestockasyouwoulda standard crosscut or ripcut.Astheblade portion reaches thecurved of thecutting line,release thescroller lockbutton, then usethescrolling knobto steerthecutting (seephoto edgein thedesired direction page34).Continue to theendof thecutg es a wf i r m l yw i t ho n e t i n gl i n eg, r i p p i nt h handandguiding it withyourotherhand onthescrolling knob. Onthemodel shown, thebladecanalsobesteered along a curved pathbyexerting pressure moderate steering onthehandle.

,41

-

SABERSAW

CUTTING CIRCLE guide a commercial circle-cutting Using downthestockwithasmuchof theworkClamp pieceas possible extending offthetable.Make however. lf theareainside surethesetupis steady, thecirclewillbethewastewood,makea plunge cuI (page44) or borea hole(page45) within the c u t t i n lgi n e i; f t h em a t e r i saul r r o u n d ti n hg ec i r c l e willbethewaste,makea release cutto thecuttins linefromtheedgeof thestock.Fita commercial guideonthearmof thesawanddrive circle-cutting the pivotpointintothestockat thecenterof the circleyouwillbecutting. Adjust theguideuntil thedistance between thebladeandthepivotpoint equals theradius of thecircle. Holding thesawand thestockfirmly,cut outthe ckcle(left).Toavoid sawing intotheworksurface, turnoffthesawand reposition theworkpiece asnecessary.

Circle-cuttrnq4uide

CIRCLE-CUTTING JIG Tocutcircles thatexceed thecaoaciguide,usea shopty of a commercial foryoursaber saw. madejig customized jig Theexactsizeofthe canvary,butthe dimensions in theillustration at right willyielda jig largeenough to cut a circleto theedgesof a 4-by-8panel. Tomakethejig, remove the blade fromyoursawandoutlineits base plateon a pieceof Vz-inchplywood. Reinstall the bladeandcutalong the marks, making thesection thatwillbe beneath thebaseplateslightlylarger thanthe plate.Streamline thejig by of anL, trimmingit downto theshape thencutoutthenotchforthe blade. Screw thejig to thebaseplate,ensuringthatthebackof thebladeisflush against thebottomofthenotch.Next, usea pencilto marka pivotlineon thejigthatisaligned withtheblade.

Ctrcle-cuttin4jiq 71/2"x 27"

+)

Cutintothestockto bringtheblade uptotheoutline ofthecircleyouwill Thendrivea nailor a becutting. screwintothejig onthe pivotline at thecenterof thecircle. Cutthe circleasyouwouldwhenusing a guide. commercial

-

PLUNGECUTTING tf

h. sabersaw'sdesignmakesit ideI al for thetrickyjob of makinginterior cuts.Therearetwo waysto begin theooeration.Youcanusea drill to bore aholi (page45)or plungethebladeinto the workpiece,asshownbelow. This secondmethodwill makethe cut much more quickly,but it is alsoa little more challengingto perform.It takessomepracticeto keepthe blade from skatingon thesurfaceof thestock. Forbestresults, work with a short,stiff bladein the saw.

Makesureyou haveafirm grip onyoursabersawwhen makinga plungecut,otherwisethebladewill tendto jump off thesurfaceof the woodat thestartof thecut.

MAKING ANINTERIOR CUT

r') Completing thecut Z Remoue thesuideblockandcontinuethecut.To relmove the bulkof the wastein a singlepass, sawto oneof the cutting lines. Fortherectangular outline followthemarks, shown, butdo nottry Instead, bypass to cutthecorners square. withcontourculsbelow), thecorners yourstarting continuing untilyoureach pointandthewastepiecefallsaway.

'l

Plunging intothestock I Aligna guideblockwithoneofthecutting linesandclamp it in placeasshown. Resting thefrontof thebaseplateonthe pivotthesawforward workpiece f lushagainst theguideblock, gripping untilthebladeis above thestock. Then, thesawfirmly,turnit onandslowlylowerthe bladeintothestock(above), keeping thebaseplatebuttedagainst theguideblock.Once thesawsitsflatontheworkoiece. turnoffthetool.

44

-

SABERSAW

lltflrrlllfilrllllllllilllllrlllll|lllllrlllllllllllllllJlllllllllll] 9HO7Tt? 6oring aaaesaholee An allernativeto makin4a plunge is lo borea hole cul in a workoiece in whichyou can ineerllhe blade. lnstalla brad-pointbit on a drill ?reooor electricdrill:lhebit diam' eter ehouldbe widerthan the widNh of the blade,ANeachcorner borea holetrhaljuot loucheeNhecul' tinq lineeon both sides.Thesaw bladecanthen be ineerled in 1tn6-:. '";'-*9:1 holeNocutto the adjoininqcorner.

45

thecorners Q Squaring wastewith r-,f Cutawaytheremaining cutsat eachcorner. twointersecting f latagainst Holding theedgeof theblade sawalong theline oneof thecutedges, thecorner untilthebladereaches hbovd. ontheadjoining Repeat thisprocedure sideto clearthewastewoodfromthe firstcorner. Thendothesamethineat corners. theremaining

-

CUTTINGDUPLICATEPIECES -f h. sabersawlendsitselfto theproI ductionof multiplecopiesof a shape.Providedthe stockis not too thic-k,stacksawingis an effectivemethod for cuttingduplicatepieces. Usingthis approach,layersof stockarefastened togetherandthepiecesarecut in a singleoperation.Not only is stacksawing moreefficientthancuttingall thepieces separately, it ensuresthat the finished productsareexactcopies.

Some woodworkersuse nails or screwsto bond the layerstogetherin preparationfor cutting;othersprefer clamps.Both approaches canbe hazardous,however,if the bladeaccidentally strikesa fasteneror clamp.A safer wayis to usedouble-sided tapeto hold thepiecestogether. Therearesomelimitationson stack sawingwith a sabersaw.First,theblade mustbelongerthanthecombinedthick-

STACK SAWING

Cutting through stacked wood Usedouble-sided tapeto fastenthe layers of stocktogether (above, left),making surethattheendsandedgesof the pieces areperfectly aligned. Marka cuttinglineonthetop piece,thenclampthestackto a worksurface withtheportionto becutcompletely offthetable.Alignthesawblade withtheline,thenmakethecutasyouwouldforanyother curue(above,right).

46

nesses of the workpieces. Depending on the modelyou have,you canbuy sabersawbladesup to l2 incheslong, but do not attemptto usea bladethatis too short.Youwill alsoorobablvneed to makethe cut fairly slowly. Anotheroptionfor repeatcurvedcuts is to usethefirstpieceyou cut asan edge guidefor subsequent cuts.Clampingthe guideto theworkpieces canmakea contour cut asstraishtforward asa crosscut.

SABERSAW

REPEAT CURVED CUTS 'l Setting upanedgeguide c u r v ei n I T oc u ta r e l a t i v egl ye n t l e workpieces, sawthefirstpiece several freehand, thenuseit asanedgeguidein making theothers. Cuttheguideslightly pieces to help longer thanthesubsequent in aligning thesaw.Sincethetool'sbase platewillberidingalong caretheguide, edge.Setthenext fullysandthecurved pieceof stockon a worksurface. Marka edge. Thenalign cutting lineon itsleading withthemarkandbutttheedge theblade guidef lushagainst thesaw'sbaseplate. Measure thegapbetween thebackedges at bothendsto make of thetwooieces parallel, thenclamp suretheyareperfectly theguidein placeasshown.

Edqe 4uide

r) Making thecut g es a w L l o h e l pi n k e e p i nt h path,place directly on itscutting a smallstripof masking tapeon t h eb a s ep l a t ei n l i n ew i t ht h e blade.Tostartthecut,buttthe baseplateup against theedge guide withthe andaligntheblade cutting mark.Feed thebladeinto thestock, keeping thepartof the tape baseplatewiththemasking flushagainst theedgeguide(left).

47

.-:,. lg{t

"** 9;

-

ELE,CTRICDruLL espitethefactthatit iscapahandsto manipulate theworkpiece. ble of one basicactionA standwill alsogiveyourdrill a rotatingwhatever is clutched in its levelof precision approaching that jaws-the electricdrill is probably of a drill press. themostfrequently usedportable Portable drillsareclasified accordpowertoolin awoodworker's shop. ing to the maximumbit shank Thebetter-quality modelsaresuited diameterthat canbe fitted into for morethansimplyboring holes; theirchucks. Themostcommon theyaretruemultipurpose tools. homeworkshop sizesareV+-,3/a-, Youcanrely on your drill to andVz-inchdrills. A system of gears makeprecise holes,rangingin size between a drill'schuckandmotor from tiny r/zz-inch incisionsto 4rotates thechuckata certainspeed inchcavities cut with a holesaw. andwithacertainamountof toique, With a stopcollaror shop-made or twistingforce.Depending onthe job at hand,eitherdrill speedor depthguidefastened to thebit,you havetheabilityto precisely control torquewill be the crucialfactor. thedepthof theholeyouaremakCoupledwith a commercial dowelingjig Higherspeeds areneeded forsmalling.Certainspecialized bitsfor the thiscordless drill canboreholesfor dowels diameterholesand for jobslike powerdrill letyoucontroltheshape at any interval.Thedepthcollaron thebit sanding or scraping; highertorque of theholeaswell.A counterbore controlsthedrilling depthprecisely. will helpoutwhenyouaremaking bit,for example, makes threesizes of largerholes. holesin a singleoperation: oneasa pilotholefor a screwtip, In general, thehighera drill'smaximumspeed, theless a slightlylargeropeningfor thescrewshank,anda holelarge torqueit cangenerate. A typical7a-inch drill ratedat3 ampscan enoughfor a woodplugto conceal theheadof thescrew. produce speeds up to 4000rpm,but it will lackthenecessary greatlyexpand Otheraccessories theportabledrillt capa- powerforboringlargerholesin hardwood. A %-inchhammer bilities.Depending ontheattachment, a drill candrivescrews drill ratedat4.5ampsdevelops enough torqueto punchahole andnails;shape, sandandscrape woodsurfaces; andpowera in concrete, butthetoolwill notrun fasterthan850rpm,insufgrindingwheelfor sharpening bits.Attached to a guide,the ficientto spina sandingdiskrapidlyenoughfor smoothing toolgainsenoughstabilityto cutwoodplugs,ataskthatwould wood.Between thetwoextremes isthe7s-inch drill.Withtypbedifficultto performwellwith ahand-held drill.Mountedin icalspeeds ashighas1200rpmandampletorque,it isconsida stand,the drill becomes a stationary tool,freeingyour eredthebestall-purpose drill for mostwoodworkers.

A l/t-inchbrad-pointbit boresa series of overlappingholes for a mortisein a cabrioleleg. Aftera chiselhassquaredthemortisecorners, thelegwill bereadyto accepta rail tenon.

49

DRILL ANATOMYOF AN E,LECTRIC in ,,\ lthoughallelectlicdrillsoperate r.\ esserrtially the sanreway,woodworkersoften keep severaldifferent modelson hand t-otake careof any For mostapplicadrilling operatior-r. tions,a corded7e-inchvariablespeed, drill, suchasthernodelillusreversible A tratedon page51,is thebestchoice. uses. 7+-inch drill alsohasits special A l t h o u g hi t l a c k st h e p o w e ra n d b i t modof a largerdrill,a 7.r-inch capacity morerpm,enablingit to el cangenerate holes. borecleaner smalldiameter A third choiceof manywoodworkdrill. Earlymodels ersis the cordless powerfor portability, oftensacrificed havesolvedthis but morerecentversions problemand can produceenough torquefor mostdrillingjobs.A comslip-clutch mon featureis an adjustable designed to makedriving mechanism, and removingscrewseasyand precise. Theclutchallowsthebit to spinonlyas fastasthe screwturns;whenthe screw stopsrotatingso too doesthe bit. This

prevents thebit fromstrippingthescrew heador slippingoff thescrewandposFormaxisiblymarringtheworkpiece. drills mum flexibility,manycordless settings. olfera rangeof slip-clutch \Ahateverthe type or sizeof a drill, there are severalother featuresyou switch shouldkeepin mind.A reversing it can for removingscrews; is esserrtial

alsobeusefulforwithdrawinsa bit that isstuckirra hole.A chuckkeythatcan bestoredon thedrillor theoowercord convenience. is a smallbut sisrrificartt Forprolongedo!erationssuchassandingor scraping, makesureyourdrilihas a lockingswitchthatwillkeepthemotor runningwithoutrequiringthatthetriggerswitchbe depressed.

This cordlessdrill/driver takes tlrc portoltility of the electric drill onestepftn'ther.Powered lty r echargealtIe ri ckel- cadni trnrltatteries,the tool carrbe tokt'rtnrrywlrcrcin tltcshop.

ELECTRIC DRITLSAFETYTIPS . Alwayswearsafetyglasseswhenopera t i n ga d r i l l ;a l s op u t o n a d u s tm a s k i f y o ua r eu s i n ga s a n d i n o grscraping access0ry. . D o n o t u s et h e d r i l l i f a n y o f i t s p a r t si s l o o s eo r d a m a g e d i;n s p e c t y o u rd r r l lb i t s a n d a c c e s s o r i e s b e f o r ed r i l l i n g . . Keepall cordsclearof thecuttingarea. r Disconnect the drill f rom its power sourcebeforechanginga bit or accessory,or makrnganyotheradlustments to the tool.

. Keepyourhandsawayfromthe underwhenthe bit is cutsideof a workpiece t i n g i n t oi t . . W h e ni n s t a l l i nag b i t , m a k es u r ey o u i n s e r itt f u l l yi n t ot h e c h u c k . Do not tightenthe chuckby hand; insertthe chuckkey in eachof the three h o l e si n t h e c h u c kt o t i g h t e n . o Remove the chuckkeyafterinstalling a brt or accessory. . Keepthe drill'sair ventsclearof sawthe motor. dustto avoidoverheating

50

r Avoidsteadying a workpiece by hand; clampyourstockto a worksurfacewheneverpossible to keepbothyourhands freeto operatethe tool. . Maintaia n c o m f o r t a b l be a, l a n c e d s t a n c ew h e no p e r a t i ntgh e d r i l l ;a v o i d over-reach Ing. o D o n o t f o r c et h e d r i l l ;a l l o wi t t o b o r e a t i t s o w n s p e e d ,w i t h d r a w i n tgh e b i t y c l e a ro u t f r o mt h e h o l ep e r i o d i c a ltl o iha

rrracto

if nonoccarv

o Do notwearloosejitting clothingor jewelry.Theycan be caughtby a spinningbit.

-

ELECTRICDRILL

Chuck collar Looeenedor tightened to open or cloae chuckjaw6; may be removable to allow inatallation of certain accessoriee,auch aa a drill 1uide

Trigger awitah On variableepeeddrills, motor apeed variea'with preaeure applied to awitch

Chuckjawe Hold and rotate bit or acceaoory

Reveraing ewitah Chanqeadirection of motor rotation

Locking awitah Keopamotor runninq whentriqqer switch ia releaaed: can be ueed to lock motor at.any apeed

Chuck keyr Fitted into holes of chuckcollar to open or cloaejawo

-

DRILLBITSAND ACCESSORIE,S islimit\Z our electricdrill'sversatiliry J' edonlybytherangeolbis andaccesin the shop.With soriesyou accumulate theappropriateattachmentin its chuck, the drill canbe an idealtool for a great manyjobs,makingit invaluable at many stages ofa project.A flap sanderand a stand,for example,transformthe drill into a stationarytool for smoothingwood. With a rotaryrasp,thetoolcanshapedecorativecontours.A righrangleheador a flexibleshaftwill geta bit into tight spots. will Oncethejob is done,a bit sharpener restoresharpcuttingedges to ensurethat youborecleanlydrilledholes.

preferbrad-point Nevertheless, Mostwoodworkers bits arelikelyto be the you usemost.As shown bits.Available with eithercarbonsteel, accessories steelor carbide-tipped cutbelow,a widearrayof theseimplements high-speed from twist andbrad-point ting edges, thesharpened centerpointof is available, posibits for boringholesof differentdiamea brad-pointbit allowsaccurate tersanddepthsto counterbore bitsfor tioning.Better-quality bits featuretwo drillingrecessed screwholes. spurson theperimeterthatscorethecirThe populartwist bit boresholes cumference of theholebeforethechipping bevelsclearawaythe stock.Twist from Vtzto 1/zinch in diameter.Originally designedfor drilling into metal, bits,however,area betterchoicefor trvistbits havea tendencyto skateon a angledholes. Althoughdrill bitsarevirtuallymainsurfacebeforepenetratingit. Youcan improvetheir performance by punch- tenance-free, rememberthat theywill ing a startingholein your workpiece only work properlyfor aslong asthey with an awlbeforeborins a hole. arekeptsharp.

A RANGE OFBITS Twist bit' The leaat expenaiveof commonly uaed drill bita: flutea expelwood chipedurin4drillin6

Brad-point bit Troducea amooth, preciae holeafrom 1/oto 3/+inch in diameter, Features a eharpenedcenterpornt to quide bit and two epure whichecore the circumferenceof the hole before the chippinqbevelabeginremovin7atock

5crewdriver bit For driving aloLted, ?hillipa or Kobertaon acrews of variouadiametera.

Adj uata bIe combinati on bit that oimultaneouoly boreapilot hole,acrew ahankclearanaehole, countereinkinqhole and counterborehole for acrewa

1pade bit Boree lar4e holea up to 1 1/zincheain diameter; eharp centerpoint quidee bit whileflat blade aliceainto atock.)ome bita have6pureon ahouldersfor cleanerholea

t

ffiE

plr

Extraator bit For removin4acrewa with atdpped heada; featu rea revergethreado

t Hole saw inchea Dorea lar4e diameter holee-typically, larger than 11,/z in diameter. A pilot bit, or mandrel,guidee cuttin4 ed4ee

52

-

ELECTRIC DRILL

A SAMPTE OFACCESS(IRIES Drill 6uide For keepin4dritl at fixed an4le to flat or round atock. Buahin4oaccommodate varioua bit diametere,

PIug cutter Cuta woodpluqa up tol/z inch lonqto concealcounterbored screwg;chamfera one end of pluq for eaoy inotallation

Wro@w

Stop aollar Also calleddrill atop or depth qauqe;for drillinqto an exact depth. Availabletn eeta matchinq bit diametere, typically froml/a tot/z inch.Hex wrencheuppliedfor inotallinqon bit

Right-angle head For workin4in ttqht cornere: allowaacceaaoryin chuckto operate at 90" an7le to body of drill. Inatalled between chuckand drill body

Nail apinner Driveafiniahin4 naila from 1to 3 inchealon7int'o hardwood without predrilled pilot hole

Eit'sharpener Honesdull bita: has 4rindin4wheelaand chuckto hold bita

Flexible ahaft For drillinq in tiqht areao; eleevecan bend up to 9O", Chuckaccepts moet bita

Flap aander For aandinq curved or contouredaurfacea; featurea alu' minumhead which apineaandingetripe

Clutch adapter Driveascrewa without havingto drill pilot holee:holdeocrewsecurelyuntil head ia flueh with aurface,then clutch diaenqaqea to avoid atrippinq acrew head

53

-

BORINGHOLES jigs A coupleof simpleshop-made shownin thischaptermakeit easyto drill bothstraightandangledholes. If youareusinga t'wistbit, puncha startingholefor thebit with anawl.To preventsplintering asthebit exitsfrom clampa supportboard a workpiece, between thestockandtheworksurface. Forbestresults, avoidstartinga hole with the drill runningat full speed. Instead, beginslowly,thengradually increase thespeedasyoudrill. Control thedepthof a holebyinstallinga commercialstopcollaron thebit or using theshop-made alternative.

JJ oring a holeinto a pieceof wood I) may seemlike a simpletask.But when you considerthat somewood thanothspecies areharderto penetrate ers,andthat holesfor woodworkingprojectssometimes needto be drilledat preciseanglesand to exactdepths,it becomesclearthat this deceptively easy operationholdsthe potentialfor error. Precisionis asimportantin drilling as in anyotherphaseofa project.A dowel hole that is off-centeror too deep,or a pockethole drilled at the wrong angle, canmar a projectasbadlyasan inaccuratesawcut or a poorly appliedfinish. For mostoperations, accurarybegins with the propersetup.While you can dependon a steadyhandto borea perfectlystraighthole,therearea widevariety of commercialguidesto ensurethat your drill bit will not wanderoff-line.

guidesteadies A commercial a drill precise angled hole. This model a for percanalsoholdthedrillperfectly to a surface. oendicular

STRAIGHT ANDANGLED HOLES Boring a straight hole A trysquare or a shop-made blockwill helpyoukeepa drillbit perpendicular to a workpiece whenyouborea hole. Tousethesquare, lineup its handle withthemarkforthehole,withthe bladepointing up.Centering thebit overthemark,alignit withtheblade andborethe hole(farleft).Besure to keepthebit parallel to thesquare throughout theoperation. Tomakethe guideblock, out cuta 90'anglewedge of onecorner of a board. Center thebit overthemark,thenbuttthenotched it. corner of theguideblockagainst Clamp theblockin place.Keeping the bitflushagainst thecorner of theblock (nearleft),borethe hole.

54

ELECTRICDRILL

hole Guiding anangled witha bevelgauge Seta sliding bevel to theappropriate beside angle, thenlineup itshandle the pointwhereyouneedthehole. thebit overthemark,then Center keeping thebit borethehole(above), parallel to theblade whileyoudrill.

llllllllllllllrlllllllll]tlllll fl|lI]I1 tllll[trll}Illlrl|lfill]ll'Illl 9HO7Tt? Ouide bloakfor angled holee To makea quideblockfordrillinginto a workpiece aNan anqle,boreal a 90" anqlelhrou4ha smallwood' blockwibhlhe eamebil vou willbe make ueinqfor Nheanqledhole.Then a mihercuNal oneend of Lheblock wooda|Lhe oameanqle IrimminqNhe

55

-

ELECTRICDRILL

WIDE ANDDEEP HOLES Using spade bitsandholesaws DrrllholesuploIVzinches in diameter with a s p a d eb i t ;f o rw i d e h r o l e su, s ea h o l e saw.In either case,puncha starting hole in theworkpiece withanawl.Forthespade bit,putthecenterpoint in theindentation leftbytheawl.Holding thetoolsteady as shown,borethe hole(nearright).lf you a r eu s i n ga h o l es a w i, n s t a a l l na u x i l i a r y possible handle whenever to givethedrill morestability. In anycase,center thepilot point,andholding bitoverthestarting the drillwithbothhands, startdrilling slowly. gradually, Increase thespeed feeding with pressure onlyenough to keepthe bit cutting intothewood(farright).

Boring a deephole Toborea holethatisdeeper thanyourbit is long, makeintersecting holes fromopposite endsof the workpiece. Beginby punching starting holesat thesameoointon bothendsof thestock.Then secure theworkpiece in a handscrew andclampit points to a worksurface withoneof thestarting facingup.Centering thebitoverthemark,bore a holeslightly morethanhalfway through the s t o c kF. l i pt h ew o r k p i e co ev e a r n dc l a m pi t i n position. Center the bit overtheotherstarting (left). pointandcomplete the drillingoperalion

56

-

ELECTRIC DRILL

Widening a hole Towidena holethathasalready been boredbya brad-point ora spadebit,you willneeda solidsurface to brace thecenterpoint of thebit against. Firstplugthe holebytappinga dowelintoit. Usea dowel thesamediameter astheholefor a snugf it andmakesurethatit isflush withthesurface of theworkpiece. Mark thecenter of thedowel, theninstall the appropriate bit in thedrillandborethe widerhole(inset).

A HOLE-DRILtING TEMPLATE To borea rowof equallyspaced holes, usea hole-drilling template madein theshopfrom7+-inch plywood. Thedimensions of the jig willdepend onthesizeof your workpiece. Tomakethetemplate, marka lineontheplywood to alignthe you holes, thendrillatthespacing piece require. Cuta of 1-by-1stock to thesamelenghasthebaseand routa %-inch-deep, 7a-inch-wide groove alongoneedge.Gluethe 1by-1to thebaseto serveasa fence. Setyourworkpiece on a support board, thenclampthetemplate to thestockwiththefenceflushagainst itsedge.Usetheholesin thetemplateto guidethebit intotheworkpiece(left).

57

-

PLUGS SCREWHOLESAND thesurface, hole. borea countersinking If you wishto concealthe screwunder a wood plug,add a counterbore hole. Therearetwo waysto boreholesfor screws.Youcan usea differentbit for eachholeor, asshownbelow,borethem simultaneously with a counterbore bit.

f--\ riving a screwinto hardwood l-,,t withoutpredrillingtheholerisks splittingthe workpieceor breakingoff the headof the screw.Dependingon how deeplyyou needto sinkthescrew, you mayhaveto boreup to four overlappingholesof differentdiameters, one insidethe next. If you want the screwheadto sit on the surface ofthe wood,borea pilot holefor thethreads holefor the shank.For anda clearance the bestgrip, a pilot holeshouldbe slightlysmallerthan the threadsof the screw.To setthe headflushwith

Thznksto their variablespeedand reversiblemotors,electricdrills are idealfor driving or removingscrews rapidly with a minimum of effort.

DRIVING SCREWS

Preparing screwholes Toscrewtwopieces of stocktogether, fit yourdrillwitha counterbore bit of a sizeappropriate to thesizeof yourhardware. pilot holeandhasa stopcollar Sucha bitwillborea thatslides up anddownto adjustit for making eithercounterbore or holes(above, left).Clamptheworkpieces countersinking oneatop theotherona worksurface, thenborethehole.lf youwillbe usinga screwdriver to install thescrew, coatthethreads with

candle waxto makethefastener easier to drive. To usethe drill,install a screwdriver bitandsetthescrewin theholeby hand.Fora slottedheadscrew, slipa shortlength of copper it to prevent tubingaround thebitfromslipping offthehead andmarring thestock.Fitthebit intothescrewheadandapply lightpressure asyouslowly startthedrill;gradually increase pressure thefeed anddrillspeedasthescrewtakeshold.

58

ELECTRICDRILL

W(l()D PLUGS CUTTING a plugcufter Using gLiide Fityourdrillintoa commercial instructions. following themanufacturer's youmustremove Onthe modelshown, thechuckfromthedrill,attach thecenterspindle of theguideto thetool,then replace thechuckonthespindle. Next, i n s t a lal p l u gc u t t e irn t h ec h u c ka n d s l i pt h es p i n d l e o n t ot h eg u i d er o d s . Adjustthecuttingdepthwiththelockingcollar. Keeping theguidesteady on theworkpiece, raisethetoolto holdthe cutterjustabovethestock.Turnon the oower andoushthedrilldownto feedthecutterintothewood.Release whenthecenterspindle the pressure h i t st h el o c k i ncgo l l a rF. r e et h ep l u g fromthestockwitha chisel.

Center apindle 9upport board

'flt$rllttlf1[l"1tf'1lf1lr-fir1lffiIf$ffiIffiffiIl1 trlIfll 5HO?TI? $oring pilotholes for finiehing nailo Likeecrews, finiehinqnaileneed oredrilledholesto orevenLhard' woodfrom opliltin7.KaIherthan eearchinqtor a verysmalldiameter drillbiL,ueea nail.1nipoff iNshead with pliereand ineerLbhef astenerinlo Lhechuck.Sharpenthe Lip wibha file,Nhen uselhe naillo boreholesae vou wouldwilh an ordinarybit. I

,

^

, . .

.

|

-

59

PORTABLE DRILL IOINERY

Mor tise- and - tenon i oint

-l- h. portableelectricdrill maynotbe I the firsttool that springsto mind when you think of joinery. Only the most innovativewoodworkerwould contemplateusingthe tool to makea dovetailor fingerjoint, for example. for anymethodofjoinery Nevertheless, requiringa cavitycut to an exactdepth, the drill is a workablechoice.It is especiallypracticalfor mortise-and-tenon anddoweljoints.

Doweljoint

For the mortise-and-tenon, the tool will roughout a mortise,althoughyou will needto souarethe cornerswith a chisel.A stop collar or a depth guide (page61)wllguaranteethatthebottom of the cavitywill be evenandlevel. A brad-pointbit will producethebest results.Chooseone with a diameter equalto thewidth of themortiseoutline, ratherthan relyingon overlappingcuts with a smallerbit. Most woodworkers

preferto cutthetenonfirstandthenuse it to markthedimensions ofthemortise. A drillcanperformallthesteps neededto prepare stockfor adoweljoint.The kevto an accurate ioint is to center thi dowelholeson theworkpiece; otherwise, thetwopieces beingjoinedwill yourbit on beoutof alignment. Center theedgeof a workpiece with a comjig or buildyourown mercial doweling center-drilling device(page63).

A M()RTISE MAKING Cutting themortise Clamptheworkpiece in handscrews, thensecure thestockto a worksurface asshown, withthemortise outline facing up.Marka linethrough thecenter of the outline to helpyoualignthebit.Install a stopcollar andadjust thedrilling depth to correspond to the lengthof thetenon. Withthebitdirectly overthecenterline, borea holeat eachendof the mortise holdthedrillwithbothhands outline; to keepthetoolperpendicular to theedge of thestock.Thenmakea series of overlapping holes(far/eft)toremove asmuch wasteas possible. Square the mortise witha chisel, keeping thebladeperfectly vertical andits beveled edgefacingthe insideof the mortise(nearleft).

60

ELECTRICDRILL

llllIl11 llllilItlllrilllillllllllllltlllilllillttllllllllllllll]Illlflrl 1HO?TI? Depbhguideo Toboreaholelo an exact, t depLh,ueea maekinq la?e I llag or a depth etop block.lf L you are ueinqthe la?e, measureNhedrillinadeoth from NheNiVof the 6it,ihen *rap a etrio of Laoearoundite shank.Wibhdraw the bil when the Naoeiuel toucheslhe stock.'To-uee a block,eubLract the drillinadeolh from lhe lenqbhof the bit protruding from lhe chuck.Cut a pieceof 1-by-1 eLockLo this lenqth,then borea holethrouqhits middle. )lip the bit throuqhNheblock and boreyour hole.WhenNhepieceof woodtouchesNheworkpieceand eto?e opinninqwibhthe bit,,retractrLhetool.

DRILLING A D()WEL JOINT thedowelholes 1 Boring I Secure oneof the boards to be j o i n e dw i t hh a n d s c r e awssy o uw o u l d whendrillinga mortise(page60).Clamp jig ontotheedgeof theworka doweling piece.Themodelshowncenters thedowel holes onthestockandspaces themat youchoose. theinterval Toavoidsplitting the boards, usegrooved dowels thatare nomorethanhalfthethickness of the stock.Fityourdrillwitha bitthesame diameter asthedowels, theninstall a s t o pc o l l atro m a r kt h ed r i l l i n d ge p t h , whichshould beslightly morethanhalf thelength of thedowels. Slidethebushi n gc a r r i earl o n g t h ej i g a n di n s e rt th e appropriate bushing in theholethrough g d r i l l .( T h e w h i c hy o ua r ep l a n n i nt o bushing ensures thatthebit is keptperfectlysquare to theboard.) Holding the drillfirmly,borethehole.Make theremainingholes forthedowels.

6l

.t ELECTRICDRILL

r) Gluing uptheboards L Applya thin beadof glueandspread it evenlyalongthe edgesthatwill be joined. Alsodaba smallamount of adhesivein the bottomof eachdowelhole:a pencilcanbeusefulin getting theglue gluedirectAvoidspreading in theholes. ly on the dowels; theyabsorbmoisture quicklyandwillswell,making themdifficult to f it intotheirholes.Insertthe thentapthemintofinalposition dowels, which witha mallet.Avoidpounding, cancausea boardto split.Closeup thejoint,thenusebarclampsto holdthe piecesin placeuntiltheglueis dry.

62

ELECTRICDRILL

Duehin4

CENTER-DRIttIiIG JIG To boreholesthatarecentered on thesurface of a board,usetheshopm a d ec e n t e r - d r i l l ijni ggs h o w n provides above. Theillustration suggested dimensions. Usea straightpieceof 1-by-1 stockforthejig arm.Youcanmake sucha deviceanylengthyouchoose, butcuttingit to the lengthshown allowsit to accommodate eventhe wideststockusedin a typicalproject.Markthecenterof thetopface

of thearmandborea holethrough it fora guidebushing. Theholeshould be7einchlargerin diameter than thebushing, whichshouldbeslightly largerthanthe holesyouwish to makewiththejig.Press thebushingintoplace. Next,turnthearmoverandmark a linedownthemiddle. Markooints on the line3/qinchfromeachend, thenboreholeshalfway through the stockat thesepoints,making them largeenough to holda %-inchgrooved

63

dowel.Dabsomeglueintotheholes andinsertthedowels. To usethejig, position it onthe stockandpivotthearmuntilthedowelsareupagainst theopposite edges of theworkpiece. Holding thejigwith onehand,fit thedrillbitintothebushingandborethe holebelowl Fora holecentered ontheedgeof a board,firstsecure theworkpiece in a vise.Thenposition edge-up thejig ontheedgeof thestockwiththedowelsflushagainst itsopposite faces.

-

SANDING,SCRAPINGAND SMOOTHING oupledwith a sandingdrum,flap f or rasp,your drill canperU sander, form manytasks,from smoothingstock As illustratto shapingcontourededges. you the drill to the ed below, canbring job or,ifyou preferto feedthestockinto the tool, mount the drill in a stand, transformingit into a stationarysander. Ifyou areholdingthetoolby hand,make surevou clamothestockto a work surfaceio keepif steadyduringthe sanding operation. Sandingdrumsareidealfor smoothing curvededges. Oftensoldin sets,the drumstypicallyconsistof replaceable that fit tightly around sandingsleeves solidrubberones,rangingin diameter fromVzinchto 3 inches. Flapsandersaremadeup of abrasive stripswith pliablebrushbackingthat

Mountedin a standandfined with a a flap sander,an electricdrill becomes idealfor smoothing stationary sander, thecontoursof a cabrioleleg.

andsmall canbeforcedintocorners stripsarebestfor openings. Unscored flatsurfaces, whilescored stripswork Whichever sanding wellon contours. youinsertin yourdrill, usea accessory fastdrill speed alongwith a lightfeed pressure. Thefinerthegritoftheabrashouldbe. sive,thefasterthedrill speed Forquickstockremoval, usea rotary of rasp or diskrasp.Thetypeor shape youchoose will depend on thejob at hand.Cvlindricalrasosareidealfor whileconiformingedges andcorners, Disk workbestin tightspots. calrasps raspsarefor useon flatsurfaces. Aswithsanding drums,rasps should beappliedonlywithlightfeedpressure. Toomuchforcewill cause a buildupof heat,possiblyburning thesurface ofthe rasp. the teeth ofthe stockandclogging

ANDSMO()THING ST()CK SANDING

Using a drumsander andmovethe Holding thedrillparallel to thesurface to besanded, turnonthepower (above, lef).fo produce a lightpressure sanding drumfromleftto rightwhileapplying reverse of the thelifeof thesanding sleeve, thedirection moreevenfinishandprolong thejobsanding fromrightto left.Fora drill'smotormidway through theoperation;finish to usea commercial drillstand. workpiece thatis awkward to clampdown,youmayprefer Screw thestandto a plywood base, thenattachthedrill.Lockthemotorin theOnposi(above, of drumrotation thesleeve against thedirection tion,thenfeedthestockacross right).Onceagain, switchthedirection of themotorat somepointduringtheprocess.

64

ELECTRIC DRILL

rf*g:*g:tl:::liffi::r::trj::::iY::::ffi

SANDING DISK TABIE To useyourdrill as a stationary sander, construct a sanding disk tableforyourtoolfrom%-inchplywood.Thetablewill allowyouto feedstockintothe rotatingabrasive surfacein a controlled fashion, keeping theworkpiece squareto thetool.Referto the illustration at rightforsuggested dimensions. Cuta notchin the edgeof the jigtopthatwillsit nearest thesandingdisk.Temporarily affixthedrill standto the base,thenmountthe toolin thestandandinstallthe d i s ki n t h ed r i l lc h u c kT. r i mt h e twosidessothatthe uppersurface of thetabletopsitsjustabovethe levelof thewasher onthedisk. Screwthesidesto thetop;lf you wishto conceal thescrews, counterborethemandcovertheirheads withwoodplugs.Screwthe sides to the base. Position thestandsothatthedisk will rotatefreelywithinthe notch in thetop,thenscrewthestandto the base. Before beginning to sand,boltor clampthetableto a worksurface. Lockthe motorin the 0n position, thenfeedtheworkoiece at a uniformspeedacross thedisk,working against thedirection of drillrotation (right,below).Avoidburningor gouging thewoodbyfeedingthe stockwithonesmooth, continuous motion.To evenoutwearof the sanding disk,reverse thedirection of thedrillmotormidway through the operation, andfeedthe stock fromthe othersideof thetable.

ToP 12"x 131/2" 9ide 3 3/a"x 12"

65

ELECTRICDRILL

STOCK ANDSURFACING SCRAPING rasp Working witha rotary toolfor roughA rotaryraspis an effective curves alongtheedges ingoutdecorative hold Tocuta tightcurve, of a workpiece. t h ed r i l lw i t hb o t hh a n d as n da p p l ym o d e r a t en r e q q r rt n r et h es r r r f a cuen t i tl h e raspcutstheshapeyouneedtighil. fo moreltghtly roughouta gentlecurve,press andmovetheraspalongthewoodsuropposite thedirection face,proceeding o f d r i l lr o t a t i o n .

Using a diskrasp lf youwantto remove stockmorequickly p e r m i tu, s ea d i s k w i l l t h a na s a n d e r g r i p f i r m o nt h ed r i l l h , old r a s pW . i t ha p e r p e n d i c u l a r t h e s u r face, t h et o o l to pressure to allow applying onlyenough theraspteethto cut intothewood.(Too muchpressure maycause thedrskto w o b i t et o od e e p liyn t ot h e o ds, t a l l i n g Move thetoolacross the the drillmotor.) surface following thegrainof thewood.

66

-

THE PORTABLE DRILLASDRILLPRESS f fyour workshopdoesnot includea I drill press, andyou haveno immediateplansto buy one,mountingyour portabletool in a drill pressstandcan providesomeof the capabilities of the stationarytool. Naturally,sucha compromisesolutioncannotrival the real thing when it comesto precisionand versatility.Dependingon your needs, however,a drill pressstandmay serve youjust fine,andyou will probablyfind that it allowsyou to do somejobsmuch betterthanif you hadbeenholdingthe drillin your hand. With the addedstabilitvaffordedbv thestand,you caninstalla small-diameterForstnerbit in thedrill andoroduce perfectlyperpendicular, flat-bottomed holes.Most standsincludea depth adjustmentfeature,usefulif you want

to bore a uniform seriesof holes.In selectinga stand,keepin mind that some modelscan accommodate any make of drill while otherswill onlv acceDt certainvarieties. Forconvenience andmaximumstability,bolt your drill pressstandto a base of 3/+-inchply,vood, thenclampthebase to a work surface.

With q tiltableworktable,thisdrill pressstandenables a portabledrill to borepreciseangledholes.The V-groove in thetableis designed to holda cvlindersecurelv.

B()RING HOLES Drilling witha commercial stand Instaa l l b i t i n t h ed r i l la n dm o u n t thetoolin thestandfollowing the manufacturer's instructions. Setyour stockonthetableof thestandand a l i g nt h ed r i l l i n m g a r kd i r e c t luyn d e r t h eb i t b e f o r e c l a m p i ntgh e w o r k p i e c ei n p l a c el.f y o ua r eb o r i n g a stopped hole,setthedrilling depth. LockthemotorintheOnposition, then rotatethefeedleversteadily to feed (/eff). the bit intothe workpiece

67

ROUTER perfectresults. Bothtypes ensuring ofguides canbepurchased, butyou canalsomakethemin theshop. Mountingtherouterin a table transforms it intoa stationary tool andfreesyourhandsfor feeding stockinto the bit. Youcanalso installcertainbitsin atable-mountedrouterthatofferprofilesyoucannot usewhenoperating therouter by hand.A tablealsomakesthe routeranexcellent toolfor cutting joints (page97), including the tongue-and-groove andthesliding Butwith oneof themany dovetail. jigson themarket,you commercial canproduce accurate mortise-andjointswith tenonjointsanddovetail a hand-held router.

omprisinglittle more than a baseplateand a motor that

spinsa cuttingedge,therouter's simplicitybeliesitsversatility. Unlike otherporablepowertools,therouter hasno stationary counterpart that canoutperformit. As such,the routerisa must-have toolfor most woodworkers; someclaimthatit is thesinglemostimportantshop tool inventionof the twentieth model,develcentury. Theearliest opedduringtheFirstWorldWar, featured fromthe a cuttercreated wormgearof anelectricbarber's morethan A routercanfashionmorejoints thanany .hpp.r.Wthin 10years, "ElectricHand portablepowertool.Here,oneis used 100,000 other Shapers" produced. hadbeen to shapea tenonat theendof a board,aided jig. workpiece Shaping theedgeof a by a mortise-and-tenon profile probawith a decorative is routersrauinb?;:ptTJ::Jffi :n*:;rl',i blytherouter'smostcommontask.It candothejob asreliably rerences,aif asona straight board.Thegreatnum- andplungemodels.Themaindifference between themhas ona circularworkpiece cuttersto to dowith thewaythebit bitesintothewoodatthebeginning berof bitsavailable-fromrabbetandchamfering dozens of of a stopped-groove cut.Thebaseplateof a standard router cornerroundandbeading birc-allowsyouto create profiles. Therearealsoa numberof accessoriesmustbeheldat anangleto thesurface distinctive sothatthebit canbe fromthebeginningof a loweredgradually into thewood.Theplungeroutercanbe designed to keepthecut consistent passto theend.Forstraightcuts,anedgeguidekeeps heldflat on thesurface thebit beforethecut sincetheentiremotor fromveeringoff thecuttingpath(page79).Forshaping the asembly, alongwiththebit,ismounted above thebase on springguides loadedcolumns.Downwardpressure on thehandlesfeeds circumference of a circle,or cuttingouta circle,special will holdthebit auniformdistance fromthe center(page85), thebit intothewood.

A dovetailbit carvesa channelin a hardwoodpanel.Running therouterbaseplatealonga guidekeepsthecutsquare to theedges of theboards.Thejoint is a goodonefor installing shelves in a bookcase.

69

-,!

ANATOMYOFA ROUTER to spin shanks. Largermodelscanalsoaccom\ A f hileallroutersaredesigned Y Y bits.notwomakesormodelsshare modate3/sor %-inchcutters. Toolpowexactlythesame features or design. Some er andbit capacitytypicallygohandin hand.Smallerroutersstartat %horseof thedifferences, suchasthelocationof the On/offswitch,arestrictlya matter power,whilemanufacturers claimas preference; muchas3 horsepower for somelarger of convenience or personal models.Greaterpowerenables othervariationsdeterminethekind of a router workyoucanperformwith thetool. to turnlargerbitsandmakedeeper cuts, Thecolletsof manysmallerrouters so it is worth buyrnga tool with at only acceptbits with %-inch-diameter leastt horsepower.

Manyroutersfeaturevariablespeed control,whichenablesyou to matchthe bit speedto thejob athand.Depending on themodel,you cansetthespeedat levelsbetween8,000and24,000rpm. Slowspeeds arebestfor deepcutssuch aswhenyou areusinga panel-raising bit; veryhighspeeds comein handyfor jobssuchastrimminglaminate.ln general,high speedwill producea cleaner

ROUTER STANDARD Onloff ewitah

Ease plate clamp acrew Looaenedto 6et cuttina depth of bit o, ,emovebase plAte from body; tiqhtened to lock plate in poaition

Depth adjustment ring Uaedfor aottin7 cuttinq depth of bit

Baae plat'e )up?orte motor. Kemovable for bit chanqinqor for mounting router in table; adjuatable for oettinq cuttin7 depth

Collet Jawa accept ahank of router bit; nut directly abovecollet is turned to open or cloaejawa to aecure cutter in place 9ub-baEe )crew holeaallowaccesaoriea to be attached to router; can be unacrewed from the baee plate.

70

-

ROUTER

is theincreased cut.Its onedrawback riskof burning. Whilesomerouters,like theonefeaturedon page7},includea plungebase (below) thatcanbeaddedto thestandard

youcanalsobuyatoolspecifimachine, forplungerouting.Pressing callydesigned downon the handlesplungesthe bit directlyintothestock-idealifyou have to startacutin *remiddleofaworlgiece.

TIPS ROUTER SAFETY . Keeprouterbitscleanandsharp; replace anydamaged cutters. . Unplug therouterbefore changi n ga b i t . . Wearsafetyglasses anda dust maskfor cuttingoperations.

PTUNGE BASE

Depth scale atop clamp Looaenedto releaeedepth etop bar; tightened to oet cuttin1 depth

Depth atop bar Usedto eet cuttinq depth; gap between bar and turret etop acrew equaladepth of cut

Dept'h saale lndicatescuttinq depth

7LOP?Crew underdepth otop bar

r Switchthe routeroff beforeplugg i n gi t i n . . Griptherouter firmlywhenswitchingit on;thestartup torque, ortwistingpowerof thetool,canmakeit difficultto controlat thestartof a cut. . Allowthe motorto reachfull speedbeforefeeding the cutter intotheworkpiece. r Donotattemptto makea deep cut in a singlepass;maketwoor morepasses at intermediate depths.

Plunge baae plate Keplacea atandard baee plate to con-

Turret atop Kotateato poaition appropriate

. Always clampstockto a worksurfacefor hand-held routing; do not useyourhandsto supporta workpieceunless therouteris mounted i na t a b l e .

. Keepyourhandsawayfromthe underside of theworkoiece when the routeris operating.

Plunge loak knob tsit can be plunqed whenknob ia looaened; tiqhtened whencutting depth io reached to lock in place

o Donottoucha bit immediately afterusingthe router;thecutting veryhot. edgecanbecome . Turnoff the routerassoonas a passis completed; do notset thetooldownuntilthebit has spinning. stopped

Turret etop acrew Height ia adjuatable to vary cuttin7 depth of intermediatepa6aeo

Edge guide Keepabit aquare to board ed4e for dado cuta. KodaattacLt to router baae plate; fence ridea alon7 workpieceed7e

Wrenahea 9upplied with router for changinq bita, Onewrenchturna collet nut; other wrench holdaahaft atationary

7I

-

BITS p ittedwith therightbit for thejob at I hand,a routercancutanythingfrom a rabbetto an intricatemoldededge. Theselection of cuttersavailable todayis verybroad.Sometool andhardwarecatalogsboastpageafterpageofrouterbits, with scoresof differentprofiles-each available in several cuttingdiameters. No matterwhatkind of cut you havein mind, you canalmostalwaysfind the appropriate bit. Standardbits for portablerouters consistof a steelbody with one or more cutting surfacesand a shank that fits into the collet. Cuttersfor this tool aregenerallyavailablein two materials: high-speed steel(HSS)and

high-speed steelwith carbidecutting edges.Althoughcarbide-tipped bits are more expensive, they staysharp longerand cut more easilythrough toughmaterials.Onedrawback,however,is that they tend to chip ifthey strikea hard surface. Routerbits fall into two categories; thosefor shapingedgesand thosefor cuttinggrooves. As theirnameimplies, edge-forming bitsareusedto cut decorativeprofilesinto stockor prepare boardedges for joinery.Thesebitsgenerallyhavea pilot locatedbelowthe cutter to ride alongthe edgeof the workpiece andguidethebit. Ball-bearing pilotsarepreferable to fixedpilots

because theydo not generate heatfrom friction and thuswill not causeburns markson your stock. or compression Groovingbits are used for making dadoes.If the dadowill not run to the edgeof the stock,a plungerouteris thebestchoice. Your router'soerformancewill benefitfrom properstorageand careful maintenanceof your bits. Usea cleancloth to wipe off dust and dirt. Protectbits from damagein a simpleto-makeholder (page74).Keepthe edgessharpand avoidusingcutters that aredirty,rustedor damaged. Be sure to unplug the tool whenever you changea bit.

EDGE-FORMING BITS

Romano4eebit

Chamferbit

Koundin4-over bit

Fluoh-cut.tingbit

Kabbet bit

GR(l(lVING BITS

lt R tl I H l I I

IJ H L] D] 9traiqht bit

Dovetail bit

V-1roovebit

Core box bit

72

Three-winq eIotti n4 c utte r

ROUTER

1HO?TI? M aintainin g an d replaaing pilotbearings AccumulaleddirL willevenlu' allyjam the piloLbearingof a rouf,erbit.Thi6may leadto burningof the ehock.Toeer- .; vicea pilol bearin6,eecure up in the bit bearinq-end a viseor handscrewg. Wipeoff burn marks, piich and 6um wiNha clolh and an oil'free, lubricant,lflhe pilol is non-silicone-baeed damaqedor worn-or if you want'io alter Nhebif s its selscrew cutlinq profile-replacelhe pilof by loooeninq wilh a hexwrench.Remove the oiloLand installa newone.

A BIT CHANGING Removing andinstalling bits Settherouterupsidedownon a work theclampscrewto surface andloosen bitsusing remove thebaseplate.Change withthe thetwowrenches supplied machine. Toremove a cutter,holdthe withonewrench andloosen shaftsteady thecolletwiththeothertool.Forextra position sothat leverage, thewrenches (left). youcansqueeze themtogether P u l lt h e b i t o u to f t h ec o l l e ti;f i t i s s t u c kg, e n t l yt a pt h ec o l l e w t i t ht h e wrench. Donotstrikethe bit or try to extractit fromthe colletwith pliers; t h i sm a yd a m a gteh e c u t t i n ge d g e . Before installing a newbit,cleanany s a w d u sf rt o mt h e c o l l e t l.n s e rtth e replacement allthewayintothecollet, t h e nr a i s ei t a b o u % t oi n c h T . hen retighten thecollet.

73

ROUTER

lllllltll|lfilllllllllllltlllllltlIIttlllut]llltl]lll]ll'Illlllllll 1HO?TI? 9torin6 router bits ThecuNbing edqeeof rouNerbite, parLicularly Nhoeemadeof carbide.can be nickedif lhey are lhrown Nogetherin oloraqe. Trotect,your bibewilh a oimple ehoV-made holder,lna b l o c k o f w o o d , b oar e serieeof holeeNhe sizeof Xhebil ehanke and store Nhemwibh NhecutNinq edqeuV.

THECUTTING DEPTH SETTING Adjusting router a standard Loosen Settherouterontheworkpiece. t h ec l a m ps c r e ww i t ho n eh a n da n d rotatethe motorto raiseor lowerit, also raising or lowering thebit.Forthestraight bitshown, alignitstip withthedepth line,thentighten theclampscrew. An alternative methodis to settherouter loosen upsidedownon a worksurface, thebase theclamoscrewandrotate p l a t eu n t i lt h e b i t p r o t r u d ebsyt h e youwanl. amounI

74

ROUTER

Depth etop bar ?lunqe

Depth 6top alamp acrew

Adjusting router a plunge Settherouter ontheworkpiece and rotatetheturretstopto position the shortest stopscrewdirectlyunderthe d e p t hs t o pb a r .L o o s etnh ec l a m p screwto release the barandseatit ontheturretscrew. Thenloosen the plunge lockknobandpushthemotor theworkdownuntilthebit contacts piece. Tighten theknobandraisethe stopbaruntilthegapbetween it and theturretstopscrewequals thedepth of cut.Tighten thedepthstopclamp screwandloosen theplunge lockknob, a l l o w i nt gh em o t oar n db i tt o s p r i n g backup hbove,/eff).Whenyouplunge thebit intothestock,it willpenetrate untilthe barcontacts theturretstop s c r e wF. o rd e e pc u t s ,i t i s g e n e r a l l y preferable to reachyourfinaldepth youcan in stages. 0n themodelshown, setthe heightof theothertwoturret stooscrews to makeoasses at intermed i a t ed e p t h sl:o o s e tnh e n u tw i t ha wrench a n dt h e nr a i s eo r l o w etrh e (above, right). screwwitha screwdriver

llililllillllllllllllltlllllllllIIlilltlll}lll fi[filtllllllltl1|l illl 1HO?TI? An auxiliaryEub-baeefor wider aute To makea cuI Nhat is widerNhana parlicular rouler biL,youwouldnormallymake o n e ? a e o , m o v e y oeudr q e quideand makea secondVaoo,lnotead, uoean off-oquareoub' base.Cut a pieceof 1/+inchplywoodinNoan b -inchoquare.Kemovetrhe router'esub-baseand boreNhescrewholeeand clearanceholelor Nhebit lhrouqhthe auxiliary sub-base, Next,shave1/rcinchof woodfrom oneed1eof the plywood,l/o inch from an adiacenledaeandl/cinch from a lhiri ed6e.Virk lhe amounf,s you removedon eacheide,)crewlhe auxiliarybaselo Ihe roulerand makea paobwilh the unehaved edqeridinqaqainetthe quide.Kolate lhe base and makea eecondpaoethat is \Aa,1/a or 1/+inchwider Nhanthe fireN,dependinq on whichedqeyou uoe,

75

ROUTE,R ACCESSORIES incethedevelopment oitheportable Q anerrtire J router, seglnent of thepowertoolindustryhasburgeoned. Thepurposeof the new activityis to design accessories thatwidenthe router'suseftilnessandenhance its capabilities. The a fewof themore uhotobelowillustrates populardevices. Someof theseproducts,likethefoot switch,maketherouterrnoreconvenient to use.The switchis esueciallv handv

with routerswhoseon/off controlsare not closeto thehandles. Ifyou usesuch a device,be sureto disconnect it from thetoolwhenyouarechanging a bit or performinganyothermaintenance operation.Thiswill oreventaccidental startuo of themotoi. Theedgeandcircleguideenables a routerto cut qrooves a setdistance in from theworkpieceedge,rout a molding or followthecontoursof curves. As -

l

l

l

shownon page86,thejig alsocanbe usedto keepa routerbit a uniformdistancefrornthecenterof a workpiece, ensuring accurate circlecuts. Thedovetailjig isoneofseveralaccessoriesdesigned to maketheroutera key part of thejoint-makingprocess. The modelshownbelowfeatures adjustable fingersthatallowyouto createyourown dovetailpatternby varyingthe widths andspacing of thepinsandtails.

()FACCESS()RIES A SAMPLING

?late joiner convereion kit Allowa router to cut slota for plate or biocuif,jointa. Eody ofjiq attachea to router baae plate; kit includeecompresaed 'wood biscuits and thr;e-wina elottinq cutter

Clampin7zyotem permita pin and tail boards to be cut wiLhoameeetup

Foot awitch For turnin4 router on and off without uainq tool'a awitch: allowa operator to keepboth handaon router handlea

Edge and airale guide Adjuotable4uideroda attach to router baae plate. Ed4e6uide holde bit a aet.diaLancefrom cutter for etraight cuto; fulcrum pin alloweji4 to pivot around a centerpoint for cuttinq circlee

Dovetail and boxjoint jig lnataltedon router table to replaaeatandard fence; featurea fine adiuatments that allowfence to be shifted by precioeamounte

76

E,DGEFORMING hetheryou arecarvinga decorativemoldinginto a workpiece or preparing boardsfor a joint,shaping will probablybeoneof yourmost edges commonusesof the router.As illustratedin thepages thatfollow,themannerin whichyouguidethebit alongthe stockdepends on thetypeofcutteryou areusing.With pilotedbits,the pilot ridesalongtheedge,keeping penetraWith tion of thecuttingedges constant. non-pilotedbits,the routerbaseplate runsalongan edgeguideclampedto theworkpiece, achieving thesameresult. Eithermethodwill work on a straight edge,but for a curvedcllt youwill need a pilotedbit. One note of caution: Kickbackcanoccurat anytime until the pilot contacts the stock.So maintaina firm graspon therouter. Foranyroutingoperation, be aware of thefeeddirection. Asillustrated below, it shouldgenerally be counterto the directionof bit rotation.Beforestartins Arredge-fonrtfugbitetclrcsa decorntiveprofile a cul.,clarnpvourstockto rrworksur'l on tlrc circturrfererrcc of o tabletop. TIrc crrtter's faceandmike s,.r.e pilot ridesnlortgtlrcstockto keep thattheclamoswill Itall-bearirrg notgetrn thewayof therouter'. tltc cttt ot a wri.fonrrdepth.

R()UTER FEED DIRECTI()N

lr-=

t__.__ll

77

Feeding the router Moving t h e r o u t e ri n t h e w r o n gd i r e c t i o n c a n m a k et h e t o o ld i f f i c u l t o c o n t r o l , r e s u l t i n ign k i c k b a cak n dt e a r o u tF. o r m o s to p e r a t i o ngsu, i d et h e b r t r n t oa w o r k p i e c ea g a i n stth e d i r e c t i o on f b i t r o t a t i o n : t h i sw i l lt e n dt o p u l lt h e b i t i n t ot h ew o o d . 0n anoutside dgem , o v et h e r o u t e irn a c o u n t e r c l o c k wdi si ree c t i o no;n a n i n s i d e edpe feedthe tool clockwise(/eft).Start w i t hc u t st h a ta r ea g a i n stth e g r a i n t; h i s w a y ,y o uw r l lb e a b l et o e l i m i n a t ae n y t e a r o uw t i t ht h e c u t sa l o n gt h e g r a i nt h a t f o l l o w .P o s i t i oyno u r s e sl fo t h a ty o uc a n p u l l t h e r o u t e rt o w a r dy o u ,r a t h e rt h a n h a v i n tgo p u s hi t : t h r sw r l le n a b l ye o ut o s e et h e b r ta t a l l t i m e sT . h r o u g h o tuht e operatiom n ,a i n t a i an f i r m h o l do n t h et o o l a n da p p l ym o d e r a tper e s s u rteo k e e pt h e b i t b i t i n gi n t ot h e w o o d .

-

ROUTER

ANDCURVED STRAIGHT CUTS

Koundedcorner

Routing witha pilotedbit Clampyourstockto a worksurfacewith t h e e d g ey o uw a n tt o s h a p ee x t e n d i n g . olding o f f t h e t a b l eb y s e v e r ai n l c h e sH t h e r o u t e rw i t h b o t hh a n d s r, e s ti t s b a s ep l a t eo n t h e w o r k p i e caet o n ee n d w i t h t h e b i t c l e a ro f t h e w o o da n dt u r n o n t h e t o o l . E a s et h e b r t i n t ot h e s t o c k u n t i lt h e p i l o tc o n t a c ttsh e e d g e k, e e p i n gt h e b a s ep l a t ef l a t o n t h e w o r k p i e c e (above,left).Fordeepcuts. maketwo o r m o r ep a s s e tso r e a c hy o u rf i n a l d e n t h O n a c r r r v ecdr r t t h e r o u t e b r it w i l l r o u n do f f a n yi n s i d ec o r n e ras l o n g the edgeof the workpiece bbove.right); s q u a r et h e s ec o r n e r w s i t ha c h i s e l .

lnlillJilllllllllllilIlultilt1 llrlillllltlllllllulttllJ llllllllll 5HO7Tt? 5teadying a router for ourvedcuts A euVVorN boardwillhelpkeepyour rouNerflat,on a workViece durinqan edqe-forminq Forcontour oVeralion. cuLo,youcan useNhe . ,/ / ,/ ' -' w v v aa ? z v vl e p i e cv tet at h v a| Ytvvv ' /.' ' remain's alLer eawing lhe curve.ClampLhe workpiece lo a worksurface,then tack-nailthe waotepiecealonqoide iL,far

N f:, :I2Y,20,,![iT"'!,i"f 3i3' clearance of LhebiL.When vou makeIhe cut, lhe rouler willbe ouVVorNed by boNhNheworkpiece and the eupportboard.Theonlylimilationie Lhat Nhebi| piloLcannot prolrudebeyondLheboNtomof NheeIock.

7B

ROUTER

lllfilrllllllltillllltljlllllillilllllllllllflltllltllltillll|llllt 1HO? TI? Wobble-free edge rouhin7 lL can be diffi' -',lt

ta

nno-

vent a router from wobblinq whenyou feedthe Iool alonqNhetop edqe of a workpiece. OneeoluIion ie to clam?a oupporL boardNoyour elock, makinq eureIhal NheNooedaesof the Lwoboardeare eixacilylevel.lhe ou??orl Viecewillcreale a wider surlaceon whichIo reet Nhe router ao you maKeIne cut,

79

Using a non-piloted bit Toprepare forthecut,installa commercialedgeguideontherouter. Setthe tooluoside downona worksurface and inserttherodsof theguideintothe predrilled holesin therouter baseplate. Holda scrapboard onthebitto help youposition theguideforthewidthof cut,thenbuttitsfenceagainst the board. Tighten in therouter thescrews baseplateto fixtheguidein position hbove,lefl. f o makethecut,clamp yourstockto theworksurface. Then, keeping theguidefenceflushagainst theedgeyouwishto shape, startthecut at oneendof theworkpiece andfeed therouteralongtheboardedge(above, right)unlilyoureachtheotherend.

ROUTER

MAKING A STOPPED RABBET Cutting witha piloted bit Setyourstockona worksurface and marklines forthebeginning andendofthe rabbeton theedgeyouwishto stopped cut.Aligntherabbetting bitwithoneof the marks andclampa board asa stopblock flushagainst to theworkpiece therouter baseolate. Thenlineuothebitwiththe stopguide othermarkandclampanother f irmlywith in place. Gripping therouter one bothhands, buttitsbaseplateagainst stopblockandgurde thebit intothestock at therabbet startline.Continue thecut along theedgeuntilthebaseplatetouches theotherstopblock.

Using a non-piloted bit then Clampyourstockto a worksurface, marka linefortheendof thestopped r a b b eot n t h ee d g eo f t h ew o r k p i e c e . (Therabbet is shownin the illustration s t o p p eadt o n l yo n ee n d . A ) l i g nt h eb i t onthetoofaceof thestockforthewidth of therabbet, thenclampan edgeguide flushagainst therouter to theworkpiece baseplate.Witha f irmgripontherouter, feedthe bit intothestockat thestarting endof therabbet, butting therouterbase plateagainst theedgeguide.Thenfeed the bit alongtheedgeof theworkpiece, keeping thebaseplateflushagainst the guide?ighil.Stopthe cut whenthe bit r e a c h et hs er a b b eetn dl i n e .

80

DADOCUTS A lthouqhanyroutercanbe usedto A make'dado cuts.it is mucheasier to cut channels thatstopin themiddleof a workpieceif you haveaccess to a plungerouter.With thetool flat on your workpiece,you simply pressthe bit straightdown into thewood andfeedit to the end of the cut. With a standard router,you needto raisethebit clearof thestockandpivotit into thewood.In eithercase, theendofthe stoppeddado or groovewillbe roundedandwill have to be scuaredoff with a chisel. Mosi dado cuts are made with straightbits.The maximumdepthof a singlepasswill dependon thehardness

A grooving bit carvesa dado in a board.Ridingthe router baseplate along an edgeguide producesa cut perpendicularto the board edges.

of the wood you aremilling and the powerof yourrouter.Asa ruleof thumb, makeseveralpasses for deepchannels in hardwood.For cuts whosewidth exceeds thediameterof thebitsyouhave on hand,maketwo or more passes, repositioning your edgeguideaftereach passby an amountequalto thebit diameter.Threeadjacent passes with aVq-tnch bit, for example, will yielda %-inch-wide dadoor groove. Asshownbelow,theedgeguidesuppliedwith routersis a handyprop for cutscloseto theedgeor endofa workpiece.But you caneasilysetup a guide for cutsthatarefartherin from thesides.

MAKING A DADO CUT

Cutting a groove Makea cuttingmarkforthegroove onthefaceof theworkpiece, thenscrewa boardto a commercial edgeguideto serveasan extension. Alignthebitwiththecuttingmarkandinstallthe guideonyourrouter sothattheextension isflushagainst the edgeof theworkpiece. Starting at oneendof theboard, feed thebit intothestockwiththeedgeguideextension f latagainst theedgeof thestock.Continue thecut untilyoureachthe yourclamps otherend,repositioning asnecessary.

81

Routing a dado Setyourstockon a worksurface andmakea cuttingmarkfor thedadoon itsface.Alignthebitwiththemarkandclamp a board asanedgeguideto theworkpiece flushagainst the router baseplate. Theboard should belonger thanthewidth of yourworkpiece; makesurethatit is square to theedges of thestock. Griptherouter firmlywithbothhands andbuttits baseplateagainst theedgeguide.Feedthe bit intothestock at thecuttinglineandmakethecut.

-

ROUTER

"flt-1flf'1ll1ll"ffi1nll-1Ir.ffiIll1lll lllllllllfilllllll"lll 1HO?TI? Eliminatinglearout and Rouberbits can aau6eLearouN oplinLering aa they exil a workpiece allhe end of a croooqraindado c u L T oh e l pq u a r a n ' Iee oplinter' free resulNs, oet up the ,for ?roceaure0y, ctam?tnq an eaqe quideNoNhe

workpiece (pa6eB1). Ihenclamp a woodblockf,hesameIhicknessa6 your alonqlhe edqetrom which workpiece Nhebit willemerqe.Thepreooureof the blockaqainol your ebockwillkeeV tearouf,loa minimum.

DADO CUTS T.SOUARE JIGFOR TheT-square at rightwill make quickworkof dadoes andgrooves. plywood, the.lig Builtfrom3/+-inch thatdadocutswill be ensures squareto the edgesof yourstock. Thedimensions of thejig onthewidthof thestock deoend youwill be usingandthediameter of yourrouterbaseplate.Make the edgeguideat leastaslongas iswide.Thefence theworkoiece wideand shouldbeabout4 inches longenough to clampto thestock withoutgettingin thewayof the

82

w;

77 ',/t

,,/

ROUTER

MAKING A STOPPED GROOVE thebitintothestock 1 Plunging I Setthestockon a worksurface, then alignthebitwithoneedgeof theoutline. Clampa boardasa stopblockto theworkpieceflushwiththerouterbaseplate. Repeat ontheotheredgesuntilyouhave a stopblockonall foursidesof theoutline.Tostartthecutwitha plungerouter, setthetoolf latontheworkoiece with thebitabove theoutline andclearof the stock.Thenloosen the plungelockknob, turntherouteron andusebothhandsto plunge the bit intothestock(right). Once the bit reaches therequired depth,lock theknob.Tostartthecutwitha standard router, restitssub-base ontheworkpiece withthe bit clearof thestockandabove theoutline(inset). Then,gripping the toolfirmly,turnit on andlowerthebit intotheworkoiece untilthesub-base is flatonthesurface.

router,Screwthetwopartsof thejig together, checking witha try square to makecertainthattheyareperfectly perpendicular to eachother.Then clampthe T-square to a worksurfaceand routa dadoacrossthe fence.Keepthe routerbaseplate buttedagainst theedgeguideasyou makethecut. To usethejig,clampit to the workpiece withthedadoin thefence aligned withthecuttingmarkonthe stock.Makethe cut, pressing the routerbaseplatefirmlyagainst the edgeguide(right).

83

-

ROUTER

/) Completing thegroove L Cuiaetherouterin a clockwise edges of direction to cuttheoutside keeping the baseplate thegroove, f lushagainst a stopblockat alltimes (abovd. rout Tocomplete thegroove, feeding waste, the outtheremaining of bit rotatoolagainst thedirection tionasmuchasoossible

lllllllillllllllllllll|llllrllltilIlllllllllllllllllillllllllltllll]ljl] 1HO?Ta? Roulin1two dadoee in a oinglepaoo Fora shelfNoei| levelin a carca6e, ilmusl resNin dadoesaNI'he oameheiqht,in bolh oidepan' elo.Oneway to ensureLhaN lhe cuLewillmalch uo is to roullhe Lwo dadoesat,the eamefime.Clampyouretock to a workeuriace,makinqsurelhal Lheende ThenlineuVthe ol Lheboardearealiqned. dadoeeyou wieht o cuLwilh t'hepre-cuNchannelin Nhefenceof a I-oquarejiq (paqeB2), job in a einqlepaee. and comVletelhe

84

ROUTINGCIRCLES I idedby a guidethat keepsthebit a A set distancefrom a centerpoint, your router can cut arcsand circlesor add a decorativeflourish by carving ringsin a workpiece. Differentstylesof you guidesareavailable, but sometimes canmakedo with the edgeguidesupplied with your router.Somewoodworkersevenimprovisewith a chain tetherattachedto the tool'shandle. While commercialguidescan be adjustedto cut circlesof varyingdiameters,thelengthof someguideswill limit thesizeofyour circles.Youcanalways usea shop-builtjig, however,to rout largerdisks(pages 86 and 87).

plunge Aswiththecuttingof dadoes, thantheir routersaremoreconvenient for circlecutting. standard counterparts Forthroughcuts,to preventthebit from marringyourworksurface whenit finishessevering thecircle,workatopathin sheetof scrapwood.Youcanalsoshift theworkpiece sothat thepartbeing routedsticksovertheedgeofthework surface asyoucomplete thecut. Attached to a commercialguide, a router can severcirclesfrom stock-ideal for forming tabletopsand stool seats.

A CIRCLE CUTTING

routel Using a standard Buttwoodscraps against Setyourstockon a worksurface. thennail theedges of theworkpiece to actasstopblocks, Toattach the themin place.Install a straight bit in therouter. guideshown, remove thetool'ssubcommercial circle-cutting base, thenscrew theguideto thebaseplatethrough thepredrilledholes. Determine theradius of thecircleyouwishto between thecircumference andthecencut-the distance fromthe ontheguide,measuring ter-andmarkthislength

theguideat thecenter center of thebit.Drilla holethrough of thecircle,halfway between theedgesof thejig.Thenscrew butstillableto swivel. it to theworkoiece untilit is secure Gripping therouter firmly,tilt thetooluntilthebit is clearof thestock.Turnit on andlowerthecutterintotheworkoiece Movetherouterclockuntiltheguideis flatonthesurface. wise,readjusting thecuttingdepthasnecessary untilyoufinishrouting thecircle.

85

-

ROUTER

Working witha plunge routel Setup yourstockandrouterasyou wouldforworking witha standard router (page85),thenmarktheradiusof the circleandmarkitscenterooint. Fora deepcut,setthecuttingdepthsothat youcangradually reach thefinaldepth withtwoor morepasses. Fixthe pivot pointof a commercial circle-cutting guideto thecenter of thecircle, then install theguideontherouter sothat thebit is aligned withtheradius mark. Withthecutterclearof theworkpiece, griptherouter f irmlyandplunge thebit intothestock.Feedthetoolsteadily in a clockwise direction untilthecircle iscompleted, keeping therouter flaton theworkpiece throughout theoperation.

ADJUSTABLE CIRCTE.CUTTING JIG Forcuttingcirclesof different sizes, jig shownat usethe shop-made righi.Referto the illustration for suggested dimensions of thecenter block.Thediameter of thedowels depends onthesizeof thepredrilled slotsin the baseplateof yourrouter; makethewooden rodsat leastas longastheradiusof the largest circleyouexpectto cut. To assemble thejig, insertthe dowelsintotheslotsonthe router, thensetthetoolflat on a worksurface.Buttoneedgeof thecenter blockagainst theendsof thedowels andmarkthetwopointswherethey touch.At eachspot,borea holeat leasthalfway through the blockwith a drillbitthesamediameter asthe dowels. Dabsomeglueintothe holesandinsertthedowels. then

Centerblock 3/q"x3"x6"

fixthemin olacewithsmallfinishingnails.Next,markthecenterof theblockandborea holethrough it for a screw. Usethejig asyouwoulda comguide(above). mercialcircle-cutting

86

Screwthe blockto thecenterof the circleandslidethedowels along therouterbaseplateuntilthebit is aligned withtheoutline. Thenrout thecircle,feeding therouterin a clockwise direction.

-

ROUTER

COMPASS JIG jig at right,shop-made Thecompass plywood, willenable from7a-inch youto cut larger circlesthanis poscirclesiblewithmostcommercial guides. The dimensions of cutting jig size of the willdepend onthe yourrouterandthe radiusof the largest circlethatyouplanto cut. partof thejie Makethecircular slightlylarger thanyourtool'sbase plate.Thearmof thejig shouldbe wideandlonger than about2 inches theradius of thecircleyouwillbe cutting.Cutoutthejig witha band sawor a sabersaw,thenborea hole in thecenterof therounded end, making it largeenough to accommodatetherouterbit. Tocustomize thejig foryourrouter, remove thesub-base of thetooland section of the setit onthecircular jig. Withthe bit centered overthe hole,markthepositions of thescrew holesin the base.Boretheholes andattachthejig to yourrouter. Thendrawa linedownthecenter of thejig arm. the To usethejig,determine radiusof thecircleyouwantto cut andtransfer thislength to theguide, measuring fromthecenterof thebit drawn. alongthelineyouhavealready Marka pointonthearmforthecenterof thecircle,thenborea hole andscrewthejig to theworkpiece. Lowerthe bit intothestockasyou guide(page wouldfor a commercial 85)andcutthecircle,moving the routerin a clockwise direction (right,bottom).

87

-

PATTERNROUTING p attern routing is a timesaving I methodof routingmultiplecopies of the samecontouredshape.Thetechnique involvesmaking a templateof thepatternyou wishto reproduce,then using the cut-out shapeto guidethe routerbit during subsequent cuts. The exactprocedureyou follow will dependon thetypeofbit youareusing. With the non-pilotedvariety,you need to attach a templateguide-a metal collar that surroundsthe bit shank. Ieavingthe cutting edgesprotruding. With the pattern clampedatop the workpiece,the guideridesalongthe edgeof the cut-out while the bit bites into the stock. Wth thepilotedbit shown,you need only to clampthe templateatopyour workpiece,sincethe pilot of a pattern routingbit is abovethe cuttingedges. The pilot will follow the template,

enabling thecuttingedgeto reproduce thepatternon theworkpiece. Whichever methodyouuse,makethe fromdurablewood,suchas template

A pilot bearingfollowsthecurves of a paxernwhilethestraightbit underneath it reproduces thedesign on a workDiece.

plywoodor hardboard.Cut the pattern with a band sawor a sabersaw,then carefirllysandtheedgesthat will beguiding the router.The templatemust be smooth sinceany imperfectionswill be transferredto your stock.Makethe templateslightlythickerthantheheight of the templateguide. One advantageof usingpiloted bits is that you canmakethe templatepreciselythesamesizeasthefinishedpieces you wishto cut.With a templateguide, youwill haveto compensate for the differencebetweenthe bit diameterandthe diameterof the templatecollar. Patternrouting can be done with either a plungerouter or a standard router.If you areworkingwith a plunge modelyou will needto lock the tool at its propercuttingdepthbeforeswitching on themotor.Forthestandardrouter,set thedepthof cut in the regularmanner.

ROUTING WITHA TEMPLATE

guide Installing andusinga template plunge To installtheguide,loosen theclampscrewontherouterbase riorcutshown, thebit intothestockasyouwould plateandremove partof the the plate.Insertthethreaded whenmakinga dadocul (page83),thenfeedthecutterin (above, a clockwise guidethrough theholein the middleof thesub-base direction untiltheguidecontacts thetemplate. /eft),thenscrewit to the ringto holdthetwotogether; reassem- Complete thecut (above, righil,makingsure thatthe guideis bletherouter. Setyourstockon a worksurface andclampthe alwayspressed flushagainst the edgeof the patternthroughposition. templateon top of it in thedesired To makethe inte- outtheooeration.

88

-

ROUTER

Working witha piloted bit to outline thepattern Usethetemplate thencutoutmostof onyourworkpiece, thewastewitha bandsawor sabersaw, leaving the about% inchof stockoutside line.Place ontop cutting thetemplate thetwoto a of yourstockandsecure worksurface. Cutthe patternasyou wouldwhenedgeforming(page78), keeping the pilotpressed upagainst (above). theedgeofthetemplate

rllllllll[ rlllflltllllllllltr]llfifiilltllllfilItlllfiIlrlliilIlfirl k

{

1HO?TI?

I

ffi

Atemplatefor mortioing door hingee

iTfri;;,, fu$

l"

an excellenf, lechniquefor cuNtinqmorlises for hinqeo.Vake NheNemplatefrom a boardthaLiswide e n o u 4 hL o o u V p o r tl h e rouler.)ulline the hinaeleaf lo on the template,rememberinq comVeneaLe for the templaNeryuide, if you are uoinqone.CULoutNhetemplate, then outlinethe hinqeleafonLheedgeof Lhework' Clamplhe workViece lo a oupporl board,Lheneecure piece. boLhpieceeedqe-uVin a viee.)crew the templabeNolhe eupporLboard,aliqninq NhecuL-ouIwiLhlhe oullineon Nhedoor edqe.lnelalla elraiqhNbiI in NherouNerto makelhe cuI, Ihen ueea chieelto equareNhe cornere.

89

-

THE ROUTERASSHAPER ith its bit whirringat 20,000 for instance-can also be used in rpmor faster, theroutercanbe hand-heldwork, routertablebits are

you much greaterflexibilitywhen preparing stockforjoineryor cutting decorative shapes.

generallysignificantlylarger,giving somewhatintimidating.Amongthe manybenefits of installing your routerin a table is the extra margin of safetysuchan arrangement provides.Solidly mountedto a tablewitn its bit barelyprojecting abovethe work surface, the routerseemsmuch moremanageable. The routertableadds a rangeofversatilitythat no othersingleaccessory can provide.Among other things, it frees your handsto feedstock into the tool, allowing you to exert greater controlon the cutting operation.In addition, thereare bits that can only be usedon a tablemountedrouter.While some of the cutters Fittedwith a chamferingbit andsuspended upsidedownin a speshownin theillustration ciallydesigned table,a routerbecomes a stationarytool-in this joint. below-the beadingbit, case,cuttinga decorative V-groove for a tongue-and-groove

Commercialrouter tables are availablein manysizesandconfigurations.All modelshave a guardto coverthe bit; manyfeaturean adjustablefenceand a groove for a miter gauge.Cutt i n g d e p t ho n a r o u t e r tabledepends on how far the bit protrudes;the width of cut will depend on how much of the bit extends beyondthefence. On commercialtables, the fenceis commonly split.The two halvesare n o r m a l l yl e f t i n a l i g n ment for shallowcuts; the outfeedfencecanbe set behind the infeed fencefor moreaggressive removalof stock.For a routertable, customized you canalsobuild your own (page94).

ROUTER TABI-E BITS

I

t t

tl

& ,--)

t

l

\

Deadingbit

l_1

t

l

t

t

t

t

-6 riH

rq-

-

-:

t-l t l

l

t l

l [-

Ntffit

r

U

l

-d.

tr-cl

r*

l

l

-- 'It

drc* -

l

l

Elx,l

U

t_l l*;D

ffi

tl

ffi t-l

L___?

l---_l Fanel-raiainqbit

r-l

Coprnqbif, (Kailcutter)

1f,ickin7 bit lC+ila

90

rt t+ar\

Door lip bit.

Gluejoint bit

-

ROUTER

SETTING UPA ROUTER TABLE

therouter inthetable 1 Mounting yourrouter I Install in a tablefollowing themanufacturer's instructions. Forthemodelshown, loosen theclampscrewon the routerbaseplateandremove the platefromthe body of thetool.Unscrew thesub-base andfastenthe baseolateto t h e u n d e r s i doef t h e r o u t etra b l e a, l i g n i ntgh e p r e d r i l l e d holesin theplatewiththosein thetable.Install a bit in the router, thenscrewthebodyof thetoolintothe baseplate. Tightenthe clampscrew(above).

r) Adjusting thefence Z. Loosen the fouradiustment screwsandmovethe two halves of thefenceascloseasoossible to thebitwithouttouchingthecuttingedges. Tighten thescrews, thensetthewidthof cut,moving thefencebackfromthe bit for a widecut and pass.Fora cuttingwidthequalto the advancing it fora shallow diameter ofthepilotedpanel-raising bitshown(page90),loosen the fourthumbscrews behindthefence.Thenholda straight boardagainst thefenceandmovebothhalves together untilthe boardcontacts thepilot(above). Tighten thethumbscrews.

ROUTING A M(ITDING Making thepass Toholdtheworkpiece in place, clamp twofeatherboards to thetableasshown. Besureto feedthestockintothecutter against thedirection of bit rotation. With yourworkpiece clearof thebit,turnonthe routerandslowlyfeedthe stockinto t h ec u t t i n ge d g ew h i l eh o l d i n igt f l u s h against the fence.To keepyourhands safelyawayfromthebit,finishthepass witha pushstick.Position thesafetyguard overthe bit whenever oossible.

9I

-

ROUTER

ROUTER TABTE MITER GAUGE lf youdo nothavea mitergauge or if yourroutertabledoesnothavea jig slotforone,usetheshop-made shown at rightto guidestockaccurately across thetable.Thisdevice i s e s p e c i a lhl ye l p f uf lo r k e e p i n g perpendicular long,narrow boards to thefencewhilecuttingintotheir ends.Sincethefencebuttsagainst theworkpiece, thejig alsohelpsto reduce tearout. T h ed i m e n s i oonfst h ej i g w i l l depend onthesizeof yourtable,but thosesuggested in theillustration are suitable formostcommercial models. Thelengthof thegauge-less the thickness of theguide-should not exceed thedistance between thebit's pilotandtheedgeof thetable. Toassemble thejig,screw togetherthegauge andsupport board, makingsurethattheyarealigned at one end.Countersink thescrews into thefaceof thegauge. Thenscrew t h i sa s s e m b il n y t ot h et o pe d g e of theguide. position To usethemitergauge, rt ontheinfeed sideof thebitwith t h eg u i d ef l u s ha g a i n st th ee d g e of thetable.Thenbutttheendof t h ew o r k p i e caeg a i n st h t ef e n c e whileholding itsedgeflushagainst Withthethumbs thegauge. of both hands hooked overthejig, pushthe workpiece andthegauge together to makeIhe cut (right).

shtt

x 2tt x 11

t/:tt

9upport board 3l:"x13/.i'x10t/2"

92

-

ROUTER

MAKING A STOPPED CUTONA ROUTER TABTE 'l

Setting upthecut I Marka cuttinglineontheface of theworkpiece fortheendof the cut.Aligntheendof thestockwith t h ec u t t i n e g d g eo f t h eb i t ,t h e n d r a wa l i n eo n a s t r i po f m a s k i n g tapeto marktheposition of thecutterwhenit is hidden bytheworkpiecetight).

r) Feeding thestock L Wttntheworkpiece clearof the bit,position theguardandturnon therouter.Press thestockflush a g a i n st ht ef e n c e w h i l ef e e d i nigt i n t ot h eb i t .S t o pt h ec u to n c et h e lineof theworkpiece cutting meets the bit location mark(left).

93

-

ROUTER

'iill1-i!if1151,1.', ; ir "+r.l ),al?.: .

gccepttfie :.

94

,

-

ROUTER

sub-base fromthe baseplate.Remove theolatefromtherouterandusean awlto markitsscrewholeswithinthe recess(right,top).Boreholesfor the screws, thenfit a drillwitha holesaw or spadebit widerthanyourlargest routerbit andcut a holethrough the centerof thetop. Mountthe base plateunderneath thetabletop. Usescrews to assemble thepartsof thetable.Youcaneithercountersink thefasteners or counterbore the holes forthem,andthenconceal thescrew heads withwoodplugs. Tomakethefence,cut a notchout of its bottomedgeto accommodate yourlargest bit. Next,cutslotsfor bolts (Theslotswill in thefencesupports. you allow to movethefenceto setthe widthof cut.)Thenscrewonthesupports.Boreholesfor boltsandsecure the fencesupports to the tabletop withwingnuts,boltsandwashers. Attacha clearplasticguardwitha hingeto allowit to be raised outof (right,below). the wayif necessary Fasten a combination switchreceptable to oneof the legs.Wirea powercordlongenough to reacha nearbyoutlet.Whenyouusethetable, plugintherouter and leaveits motor on.Usethetable'sswitchto turn thetoolon andoff. Theroutertablecanbeusedthesame wayasa commercial model(page91). Tosetthewidthof cut,loosen thewing nuts,slidethefenceto theappropriate position andtightenthe nuts.

95

-

ROUTER

TABLE JOINTING WITHA ROUTER upthetable 1 Setting I Installa straight bit in the router, witha cuttingedgelonger thanthethickTo remove 7ro nessof yourworkpiece. inchof woodfromyourstock-a typical whenjointing-adjust theposiamount tionof thefencefora cutof thatamount. Makea testcut a fewinchesintoa scrao board, thenholdtheboardin placeagainst thefence.Fora routertablewithanadjustthefencethumbablesplitfence,loosen (/eft)andadvance theoutfeedhalf screws the cut partof the untilit buttsagainst lf your stock.Tighten thethumbscrews. fence,fasten routertablehasa one-piece a stripof veneer on theoutfeedsidethe of stockremoved samewidthastheamount in thetestcut.

Jointing anedge Butttheworkpiece against the routertablefencea fewinches from feedthestockinto thebit.Slowly thecutter(righil,whilekeepingit pressed thefence. snuglyagainst justto the Applysidepressure outfeed sideof the bit.

96

ROUTERIOINERY

Sixjointsfashionedwith a router: (clockwise from bottomleft) a miter-andspline,a tongue-and-groove, a dovetailspline, a half-blinddovetail,a slidingdovetail anda mortise-and-tenon.

-|1 h. router's abilityto plungeinto I woodandcutprecise grooves makes it anexcellent toolforjoinery.Thepages thatfollowprovidea sampling of the jointsyoucancutwith therouter.You canroughout a mortisefreehand, as

shownbelow.But manyiobsarebest executedwith the aid of a special-purposejig or a router table.Commercial mortise-and-tenon anddovetailjigs,for example,canhelp makejoints quickly andwith unerringaccuracy.

Forthelongcutsrequired in making tongue-and-groove andslidingdovetail joints,theroutertableis considered by manywoodworkers to bea necessity. It will giveyou muchgreatercontrolin feeding thestockpastthebit.

MAKING A MORTISE Routing outthecavitywitha plunge router Cutthetenonwitha tablesawor handsawanduseit to outline themortise on yourstock.Secure theworkpiece in a workbench, alongwitha boardof the samewidth.Theboardwillprovide extra support fortherouterasyoumakethe cut;makesurethatthetopedgesof the twopieces arelevel.Install a mortising bit in therouter thesamediameter asthe widthof themortise, thensetthe depth of cut. Fora deepmortise, adjustthe toolto makeoneor moreintermediate passes. Center thebitovertheoutline and installa commercial edgeguideonthe router withthefenceflushagainst theedge of theworkpiece. Holding thetoolfirmly, plunge thebit intothestockat oneend of theoutline, thenfeedthecutterto the otherend(/eftl.Secure theworkpiece in handscrews asshown in theinsetand square thecorners of themortise witha chisel, keeping thebladesquare to the workpiece andthebevelfacingthewaste.

97

-

ROUTER

JIG ROUTING WITHA MORTISE.AND.TENON upthejig 1 Setting I A s s e m bal ec o m m e r c im a lo r t i s e jigfollowing and-tenon themanufacturer's instructions. Themodelshownallows youto cut boththemortise andtenonwith thejig to the samesetup.To prepare makethecut,fit thestopin thefenceat of thedevice. Secure the themortise-end jig in a vise, to thenclamptheworkpiece it withtheendof theboardbuttedagainst the thestopandtheedgeflushagainst Protect thestockwith template asshown. woodpads(/eff).Installthe bit supplied Toset withthetemplate in yourrouter. thecuttingdepth,holdthetool'sbase plateagainst theedgeof thetemplate andalignthetip of thebitwiththebotnotch. tomof thedeoth-of-cut

with Routing themortise router a plunge f latonthejig template Holdtherouter withthe bit centered overoneendof thebit intothe themortise slot.Plunge stock(right),thenfeedthe toolalong to theotherendof theslot thetemplate to finishthecut.Makesureyoukeepthe theinside edges of the bit pilotagainst (Router theoperation. slotthroughout removed for clarity.)Remove sub-base t h ew o r k p i e cf reo mt h ej i g a n dt h ej i g fromthevise.

98

ROUTER

Adjusting thejig forthetenon Fitthestooin theslotin thefence atthetheopposite endofthejig.Unscrew t h et e m p l a t ae n ds h i f ti t t o w a r d the tenon-end slotssothatoneof thealignmentpinsonthejig bodyis exposed as s h o w nR. e f a s t et h n et e m p l a t et h, e n secure thejig andthetenonworkpiece in thevise:position theboardsothatits edgebuttsagainst thestopanditsend (rrghf). restsagainst thetemplate

Routing thetenon Thetenoniscutintwooasses. Makethe firstcutthesamewayyourouted themortisein step2, ridingthepilotalongthe insideedges of thetenon-end slots(/eff). Thenturnoff the routerandunscrew the template fromthejig body. Turnthetemplateoverend-for-end andrefasten it to t h ej i g ,k e e p i nt h g es a m ea l i g n m e p n itn exposed asforthefirstpass, thenfinish routing thetenon.

99

-

ROUTER

J()INT MAKING A TONGUE.AND-GROOVE thegroove 1 Cutting l l na p p r o p r i a t e - st ihzreede I I n s t aa w i n gs l o t t i ncgu t t eirn t h er o u t e tr h, e n m o u ntth et o o li n a t a b l eA . d j u stth e fenceto makethewidthof cutequalto (page91).f o setthe the bit diameter c u t t i nd g e p t hp, l a c e t h ew o r k p i e fclea t o nt h et a b l ea n dc e n t et rh eb i to nt h e edgeof thestock.Foraddedstabilrty, tothetable, and clamponefeatherboard thebit. a second oneto thefenceabove ( l nt h ei l l u s t r a t i oonntsh i sp a g et ,h e forclariis removed upperfeatherboard With the stock clear of the bit,turn ty.) router feed the workonthe andslowly pieceintothecutter(/e/f). Finish the passwitha pushstick.

r) Gutting thetongue fromthetable, Z- Remove therouter insert brtandremount a straight-cutting t h et o o l .A d j u stth ef e n c et o m a k et h e w i d t ho f c u te q u atlo t h ed e p t ho f t h e groove youhavealready cut.Thecutting of stock depthshould equaltheamount r e m a i n i nogn e i t h esr i d eo f t h eg r o o v e . F e e dt h ew o r k p i e ci ne t ot h ec u t t e r a si n s t e p1 .

100

-

ROUTER

A HATF.BLIND D()VETAIT I()INT CUTTING 'l

inthejig Securing theboards jig I Setupa router forcuttingdovetails following instructions. themanufacturer's youto routthe Themodelshown allows p i n sa n dt a i l so f a h a l f - b l i n dd ovetailjoint witha singlesetup.Togetthejig ready, slidethetwostoobarsonthe left-hand s i d eo f t h ej i g b o d yo u to f t h ew a yb y l o o s e n i nt hg es e t s c r e wasn dh e xn u t s h o l d i ntgh e mi n p l a c eL. o o s etnh e knobsandremove the pattern. template Install inside faceoutin the bothboards j i g :t h et a i l b o a r da g a i n st ht ef r o n to f t/qinch thejig bodywithitsendprojecting above thebody,andthepinboardflat onthejig buttedagainst thetail board. Position thetemplate ontheworkpieces leaving a gapof te/zz inchbetween the endof the pin boardandthe bottomof Turntherod thetemplate slots(lnsef). nutsforfineadjustment of thetemplate's position, knobs thentighten thetemplate to secure thepattern in place. Toposition thestockforthecut,marka line%ainch fromtheleft-hand edgeof the pin board. S l i d et h eb o a r d o v e tro a l i g nt h em a r k withthe left-hand edgeof thef irsttemp l a t es l o t .U s et h ec l a m p i nkgn o bt o (left,top). secure the boardin position Thenmovethetailboardsothatits lefthandedgeis %oinchfromtheedgeof the pin board(left,bottom).Buttthe theboards and twostopbarsagainst f i xt h e mr np l a c e .

r01

-

ROUTER

Routing thedovetails yourrouterto cut %-inch To prepare guide dovetails, install a %-inchtemplate on the tool (page88).Inserta l/z-inch dovetail bit andsetthecuttingdepthto 2r/sz inch.Routthe pinsandtailsin two passes. Startthefirstpassat the righth a n de d g eo f t h et a i l b o a r dc; u t i n a straight lineto itsleft-hand running edge, guidealong thetemplate thetipsof the slots.Thiswillremove abouthalfof the wastewoodfromthetailboard. Thenrout backin theopposite direction, following thecontours Movein of thetemplate. a n do u to f t h es l o t sk, e e p i ntgh eg u i d e flushagainst theedges of thefingers at all times.Continue to theright-hand edge of the boards(right).Thispasswill cut thepinsandremove theremaining waste fromthetailboard.

ROUTING A MITER.SPLINE JOINT Cutting thegrooves Make45' mitercutsat bothendsof the workpiece. Thenmountyourrouterin a t a b l ew i t ha t h r e e - w i ns gl o t t i n cgu t t e r andsetthewidthanddepthof cut asyou wouldto cutthegroove fora tongue-andjoint (page100).Feedthe stock groove i n t ot h eb i tw i t ha m i t e g r a u g eh,o l d i n g theedgeof the boardflushagainst the gauge andonemitered endflatalong the fence.Repeat to cutthegroove in theother boardend(lefil.Cuta splinefor each joint,making eachonetwiceaswideas thegroove depth,less%oinchforclearance.Formaximum strength, useplywood o r s o l i dw o o dc u tw i t ht h eg r a i no f t h e splines running across theirwidth,rather thanalong theirlength.

r02

-

ROUTER

MAKING A STIDING DOVETAIL JOINT groove a preliminary straight 1 Cutting groove in twopasses, I Cuta dovetail f irstwitha straight-cutting bit to remove mostof thewaste wood, andthenwitha dovetail bitto complete For thegroove. +L^ {:,^r ^^^^ :^^+^il ^ ^tr:iohf_nrrffino Uttr ilt5L pd5), ilt>tdil d ).,-,o.,,

, e nm o u ntth et o o l b i t i n y o u r o u t e rt h i n a t a b l eS. e t h ec u t t i n d g e p t ht,h e n position thefence forthewidthofcutby centering anedgeof theworkpiece over thebitandbutting thefenceagainst the faceof thestock.Clamoa featherboard to thetableto secure theworkpiece duringthecut.Feed thestockintothebitwith bothhands, making sureyoukeepthe flushagainst workpiece thefence(right). C o m p l ettheep a s sw i t ha p u s hs t i c k , thenremove therouterfromthetable.

r) Making groove thedovetail L for thesecond a dovetail oass.install bit in therouter. Feedtheworkpiece into thebitthesamewayyoucutthestraight groove, takingcareto press theedgeof thestockflatagainst thetablethrough(left). outthe operalion

103

-

ROUTER

Routing thematching dovetail slide Withthedovetail bitstillrntherouter, l o w e trh e c u t t i n gd e p t hs l r g h t ltyo m a k e t h e s l i d es h o r t etrh a nt h e d e p t ho f t h e S r o o v et h; i sw i l l i m p r o v teh e f i t o f t h e j o i n t .M o v et h ef e n c et o w a r dt h e b i t u n t i l e x a c t l yh a l ft h e d i a m e t eor f t h e c u t t e r p r o j e c tb seyond t h e f e n c e t, h e ns h i f tt h e f e a t h e r b o aar d c c o r d i n g lCy u . tt h e s l i d e i n t w o p a s s e sr,e m o v i n tgh e w a s t ef r o m e a c hs i d ea t a t i m e .l V a k et h e f i r s tp a s s t h e s a m ew a yy o uc u t t h e g r o o v er.u n n i n g t h e f a c eo f t h e w o r k p i e cael o n gt h ef e n c e . T o f i n i s hc u t t i n gt h es l i d e t, u r nt h e w o r k p i e c ea r o u n da n d m a k et h e s e c o n dp a s s w i t ht h e o p p o s i t fea c eo f t h e s t o c kf l u s h aoainct lha fonea /laff)

CUTTING A DOVETAIL SPLINE J()INT 'l

Preparing thejig p e r f e c t lm y a t c h i n g r o o v eisn t o I T oc u t t h e e n d so f t w o b o a r d sf o r a d o v e t a si l o l i n e j o i n t ,u s et h ej i g s h o w na t r i g h t s. h o p - b u i l t f r o m7 a - i n c hp l y w o o dR. e f e tr o t h e i l l u s t r a tion for suggested dimensions. Beforeassemhlinq thp iiq nrrt ihp nv:l-c.h:npd clnt in tho " ' ' ' ' b . ' i v l i b ' v v !

m i d d l eo f t h e b a s ew i t h a s a b e rs a w ;t h e h o l es h o u l db e l a r g ee n o u g ht o a c c o m m o d a t et h e r o u t e rb i t y o uw i l l u s et o c u t t h e ornn\/pq Thpn

m:kp

45o hpvplc:t

thp tnn

endsof the armsandthe bottomendsof the s u p p o r bt r a c k e t sF. a s t e nt h e a r m st o t h e b a s ea n dt h e s u p p o r bt r a c k e ttso b o t ht h e b a s ea n dt h e a r m sw i t h s c r e w sa n dg l u e . M a k es u r et h a tt h e a r m sa r ep e r f e c t lpy e r p e n d i c u l at o r e a c ho t h e r c; h e c kt h a tt h e j o i n t b e t w e e tnh e m i s c e n t e r e d u n d e rt h e s l o t .I n s t a lal d o v e t a ibl i t i n y o u rr o u t e r , s e c r r rteh' "eJi ibp "i n ' a v i s e t h e nc u t a c h a n n e l t h r o u g ht h e s l o ta c r o s st h e m i t e r e de n d so f t h e a r m s .T u r no f f t h e t o o la n d ,w i t ht h e b i t s t i l lr nt h e c h a n n e b l ,u t ta b o a r da s a n e d g e g u i d ea g a i n stth e t o o l ' sb a s ep l a t e t, h e n screwit to the jig base(right).

RA a 9aQ e U

o xl?

Arm 51/+"x13"

104

\

\

al^+

JIL' D

1,,., Err I

A .)

9upport brackeL 51/+"x61/2"

-

ROUTER

r) Routing thegrooves 45" bevelcutsat the mating L ltiat<e thenmarkcutendsof bothworkpieces, Position the tinglinesforthegrooves. workpieces in thelig underthearms, endsbuttedagainst withtheirbeveled yourouted eachotherunderthechannel in step1. Alignthecuttinglinesonthe withtheedges of thechannel, boards thensecure themin placewitha clamp. To routthegrooves, repeatthecut you m a d et o r o u t h ec h a n n efle, e d i ntgh e bit through theendsof bothworkpieces. Besureto keeptherouterflatonthejig baseasyoumakeIhe cut (right).

Making thedovetail splines Youwillneedsolines to fit intothe grooves cut in step2. To makeenough joints,routa dovetail splines forseveral dovetail slideasyouwouldfora sliding joinl(page104),usingthesamedovetail Thencutthe bitthatcutthegrooves. slidefromtheedgeof theboardon a tablesaw.Feedthestockwithyourright handasshown, making surethatyour f i n g e ras r en o ti n l i n ew i t ht h e b l a d e . (Caution: Bladeguardremoved forclarity.) Then Cuttheslideintoindividual solines. clampthematingboards to a worksurface,spread somegluein thegrooves a n do nt h es p l i n easn dd r i v et h e mi n p l a c ew i t ha m a l l e tO. n c et h eg l u eh a s cutandsandtheendsofthesplines dried, f lushwiththe boards.

105

-

PIAEIOINER supplyof whiteor yellow opularwith European glue.(Platejoinersarealso cabinetmakers since platejoiners known as biscuitjoiners the1950s, are stillanovehto manyNorth because ofthe centralrole American woodworkers. the woodbiscuitsplay in Thisis destined ttrejoinerymethod.)Three to change, for althoughaplatejoineris differentsizesof wafersare available, depending onthe usuallydesigned to perform onlyonetask-joining two thickness of thestockthat youarejoining. boards-it doesthat job Platejoinersarerelativeveryquicklyandwell.The a retractable, Mountedin a benchtopstand,theplatejoiner becomes ly safeto use;thebladeprotool features jects from the tool only a stationarytool keepingyourhandsfreetofeedstock spring-mounted bladethat whileit is cutting.Theyare cutsslotsin matingworkinto the cutterfor a seriesof identicalcuts. pieces. Glueisappliedto the alsoforgivingtools.Because slotsandanoval-shaped biscuitof compressed beechisinsert- theslotsarecut slightlylargerthanthebiscuits,a groovecan edin eachone.Thewoodenwafersrapidlyabsorbtheadhe- beoflcenterbyasmuchas%oinchwithoutaffecting thealignjoint wouldadd siveandswell,makinga solidjoint. mentof ajoint.Thesameerrorin a dovetail fu thissectionof thebookshows,platejoineryis a simple anotherpieceofwoodto yourscrappile. (page112)orjoin wayto fastenboardstogether Mostplatejoinersareequipped to cutslotsateither90oor edge-to-edge panels carcase atthecorners(pagell4),whethertheendsare 45oto thetop faceof thestock.Whiletheseangleswill cover It isalsoaquickmethodfor installing youshouldconsider square or beveled. shelves mostjointsyouarelikelyto design, buy(page116). ing ajoinerwith anadjustable fence.It will enableyouto cut in a carcase joint, a slotat anyanglefrom 0oto 90o. Compared to cuttingadovetailor mortise-and-tenon Posiblyin response operating aplatejoinerisrelativelysimple. Thetool'sfaceplate to theimpression thatplatejoinersare guidelines isbuttedagainst theworkpiece, onthetoolarealigred strictlyone-dimensional tools,mostmanufacturers nowoffer withcuttingmarls blades asanoption.Somehaveevendesigned onthestochandthemotorhousingisthenwood-trimming pushedforward,plungingthebladeinto thewood.Theonly theirjoinersto serveasmini-powersaws, whichcancomfortyouwill needareanassortment accessories of biscuitsanda ablytrim a plywoodpanelor cutgrooves.

With a sprayof sawdust,a platejoiner cutsa semicircular slot in a taperedleg.A woodbiscuitandgluewill beaddedto thecut and thenfitted into a matingslotin a rail. Theresultingjoint will beasstrongasa mortise-and-tenon-andfar easierto make.

r07

ANATOMYOF A PLATEIOINER : -' ' houghall platejoinerscut slotsin e s s e r t t i i r ltlhl e s r r r r rrev i r y t, h c i r ' designs difler.Mostjoiners,Iiketheone shclrvn opposite, hai,emotorsmolrntedin linen ith thecutterlvheel; to cllta slotthehousingis pushedfbrnardso the blacleprotrudesthroughits openingandplunges intothestock.An alternate designfeaturesa r.r.rotol and a handler.r"ronnted at an angleto thecutterrvheel-eitherrviththemotorcont-

cuta biscLrit slot.A third,less-common option is the stationaryplatejoiner (ltelow, /ef),a usefuladditionfbr a shop thatdepends heavilyon platejoineri,. Alljoinersharea depth-of-cut adjustmentfor eachof thethreebiscLrit sizes. Somemodelsofferadditionalsettings to cut slotsfor iiccessories suchashinges andknockdownfittings.Otherdesirablefeatures to look for whenbuyinga tool includeanadjustable fencefor cutnlptplrr rrrrriolrl rrr :r( in llrc inirrcr ting slots in beveled surfaces, a fixedr . . . . , / . ' r , . b . . . . , ' . , ] . , , ' ' . ' iliustratedin the photo (below,riglt), trnglefencethat ref-erences the cutter at a 4-5o angleto theblade.In thiscase, lvheelto thetop faceofa lvorkpiece, and thehandlemustbe pivotedfbnvardto a dustcollection bag.

PLATE JOINER SAFETY TIPS . U n p l u gt h e p l a t ej o i n e rb e f o r e c h a n g i nag c u t t e rw h e e ol r b l a d e . . K e e pc u t t e rw h e e l sa n d b l a d e s c l e a na n ds h a r pr; e p l a c a e n yd a m aopd errftins odsps

. l f y o u rj o i n e ri s e q u i p p e w d i t ha b l a d eg u a r d k. e e pi t i n p l a c ea n d in goodworkingorderwhenopera t i n gt h e t o o l . . Keepyourhandsawayfrom the cutterwheelslotof the joiner whenthe tool is operating. . Alwaysclampstockto a work surfacw e h e nc u t t i n gi n t oe n d grainor into a miteredsurface.

Tlrorrksto itsdiagonttllyrttotrrrtcd ttrotortttd lnrulle osscrrrLtly, tltis.loirttcr/splirrer docsrtroretlnrt crrfs/of-s it cttrtolsoscnle(l-so pltycr saw.litr afttirrg fitr Itisctrits; orrtltrirrrrrrirrg -sfock. A-stvith tttlrcr.loirters, it is tt good ideoto try a cut.t'rrst itt tt scroppiecco.l'tvood.

7-lris plotc.loirrcr statiorrary ctttsdown ortthc scttrptir,rt rctlttiredJbr protlttction.ittirrcry.Tltc rrrochirte.fbonLres n rrretnl.l'errcc turd rrritcrgnugcto gtide stockncro-s-s itstnble wlrcrrctrttirtggrooye-s, s lrold-don,rr chrrtpto scctffe(t workpiccc ttrrdo .fo