Tabla de contenidos para December 2023 en Woodworker's Journal

Few things frustrate my woodworking enthusiasm more than when the side effects of aging get in the way, and here’s one of them. As someone who has worked with my hands for 40 years, arthritis regularly inhibits my grip, making it harder to manipulate small parts. Which is why I find these new aluminum Saddle Squares from Rockler to be so handy. Notice that they have a knurled grip — I’ve found it to not only make the task of positioning them easier, but it also enables me to hold them more confidently. That is a win-win in my book! Rockler offers four options: 90 degree (item 68368), 45-degree miter (69816), 1:6 dovetails (item 66582) and 1:8 dovetails (item 64744). Each sells for $14.99 and (hint! hint!) would make an…

A Relationship Made in Heaven … Maybe. A tool has no more and no less than a high potentiality for capacity performance. At the same time each one has its own peculiar ways and workings, individual quirks of personality, if you like. These traits much be discovered, at times only through dogged trial and error, and the knowledge of them applied with persistent discipline and an attitude of acceptance, for the tool will not change its ways. When a tool is picked up and used in recognition of these limitations, then its full capability can be exploited to your purposes, and the two of you will work agreeably in tandem. There is a sharp distinction between working with your tools and merely working them on wood. Hand Tools: Their Ways…

MICROJIG has announced an expansion of its school donation program to include U.S. public middle school woodshop programs. This move comes after the company’s successful initiative to donate GRR-RIPPERs, its flagship product, to every public high school woodshop class in the country. Now, MICROJIG plans to equip every middle school woodshop program with its new product, the GRR-RIPPER 2GO. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring our new GRR-RIPPER 2GO technology to the newest entrants to the craft who are learning the fundamentals of working with wood and creating with their hands,” said CEO Bruce Wang. “We’re grateful these young learners are expressing interest, and we hope to provide a safe foundation for a fruitful journey with wood.” The GRR-RIPPER 2GO, introduced in February, is the first-ever patented…

Epoxy resin work has become exceedingly popular when combined with woodworking. Rockler’s silicone molds make that work so much easier. Measure your components carefully — by weight is best, but volume will work reasonably well. Using a mold release spray is also a sound technique… work smarter, not harder. Imagination and attention to details are the keys to great-looking resin products.…

Live-edge slabs have been trendy solutions for bar tops, mantels, tabletops, shelving and all sorts of cutting boards for many years now. If you can imagine a project where the rugged good looks of a piece of wood in its most natural form might be appealing, don’t be afraid to turn that notion into reality for all sorts of home decor! That’s exactly what we’ve done here with this sofa armrest table. It started out as a roughly 10"-wide x 30"-long slab of 3/4"-thick walnut. You can find similar slabs at Rockler stores or many hardwood lumber vendors these days. The dark brown heartwood, separated by stripes of walnut’s cream-colored sapwood, can’t help but call attention to itself! And wrapping the slab around the armrest of a sofa not only…

Ripping boards or slabs without a straight reference edge, such as roughsawn or waney-edged material, is unsafe. And if you don’t have a jointer or band saw, creating that reference edge is difficult without a convenient solution, such as these Straight-Line Rip Hold-Down Clamps (item 67042; $59.99) from Rockler. When fastened to a straight-edged guide board/clamping base, these cast-aluminum clamps with removable, adjustable board supports can grip boards up to 40" long and 1⅝" thick. Black plastic extensions on the board supports extend from 3" to 5¼", and the extensions also adjust vertically to suit guide boards from 0.7" to 1⅛" thick. The clamp assemblies feature ergonomic T-knobs, 3/8" steel rods with Acme threads, pivoting ball joints and non-marring pads. The hold-down clamps can accommodate workpieces of any width, depending…

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! When I think back to all the holiday gifts I have made in my lifetime, I get a very warm and comfortable feeling. While some of them have been duds (there have been so many that it was nearly inevitable), I can say without hesitation that almost all of them have been well received. (Even those that might have missed the mark by a bit.) In our October issue, we initiated the gift-building season by showing you a collection of ideas from past magazines. This issue we offer up several new project ideas in the hope of inspiring you. I know that for many woodworkers, the projects featured in our pages act like an idea launching pad, spurring original designs that take you…

BAND SAWS In this survey, we asked you about band saws. Do you own one? What do you use it for? 1. Do you own a band saw? a. Yes ............................................90% b. No .............................................9% 2. What size band saw do you own? a. Benchtop (9” or 10” range) ..20% b. 12” band saw ...........................13% c. 14” band saw ...........................45% d. 16” band saw ...........................7% e. 18” band saw ...........................9% f. 20” band saw ..........................3% g. Larger than 20” band saw ...2% 3. What do you primarily use your band saw for? a. Forming curved cuts .............52% b. Resawing lumber ....................25% c. Ripping lumber .......................5% d. Creating turning blanks ........8% e. Cutting tapers .........................1% f. Band-sawn boxes ...................1% g. Other ........................................8% 4. Do you own a carbide-tipped band saw blade? a.…

Three years ago for our April issue, I turned my first segmented bowl from maple and walnut. It was a pretty simple orb-shaped design made up of six rings, eight segments per ring, with a large solid-walnut bottom. I had such a good time turning that piece that I’ve since made at least a dozen more segmented bowls in varying styles. While they’re really fun to make, here are three more reasons I like them. First, segmented bowls are comprised of ordinary board lumber, so there’s no need for chainsawing a green log. Second, shaping the inside and outside profiles of the bowl involves turning side grain — not a mix of side and end grain, as you do with a typical one-piece wooden bowl, so the turning and sanding…

At Lumber Capital Log Yard, we strive to supply lumber products that meet a variety of building needs. Our local eastern white pine provides easy-to-work-with, reliable building material. These mammoth Pinus strobus trees grow well here in north central Pennsylvania, reaching impressive heights of 100 ft and up to 4 ft in girth. Well-known and long used for construction and interior carpentry, eastern white pine has one of the lowest Janka hardness ratings in our area at 380 lbf, which also means it is a great choice for wood carving material. While there is perpetual demand for common full-dimension construction lumber, we have always wanted the eastern white pine we harvest to fulfill a higher end use. Since the wood has a straight grain and finishes well, we have started…

Walnut Wall Shelf Pointers Thanks for a consistently good magazine and a great woodworkers’ resource. Wanted to point out a couple of things regarding the “Walnut Wall Shelf” project on page 20 [Woodworking Basics, August 2023]. First, when using common, handy objects to trace for cutting lines, using things with crisp edges (like paint cans or the core of a roll of tape) will produce more consistent and even lines than items with rounded edges, such as molded plastic (glue) bottles. I agree that it’s nice to be able to use the same item for the sanding block as was used to draw the curves, but that shouldn’t be hard to work around, even for a newbie. Second, when drilling through scrap to produce a guide for cutting dowels or…

Jim Wagner must not fish, because all 31 respondents to his August mystery tool report that it’s an angler’s pliers. There’s no doubt about it, says Bill Sheppard, William Darlington, Tom Tehan, Walter Benefield from Greenwood, Indiana, Dominic Papania, William Thompson hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Steven Jacks, Eddie Hopkins, Ryan Snieder and Doug Frank-houser of Conroe, Texas, Mike Strange and Jim Gardner, among others. “The slots in the jaws are for grabbing fishhooks, especially when reaching down the fish’s throat for a swallowed hook,” points out Austin Mc-Caskill. “The crimper is for securing lead shot weights,” adds Greg Burnett, and “the ridges are for scaling your fish,” says Deitra Crenshaw. Regarding those “ridges,” clarifies Cliff Moore, “[the serrations] aren’t good at that, but it does work.” “There also is a…

Last summer and fall, the American Swedish Institute (ASI) in Minneapolis hosted a sparkling woodworking exhibition called “Leaving Your Mark.” From traditional craft born of necessity to contemporary art with a punk heart, “Leaving Your Mark” is an exploration of lived experience, tradition and change, conveyed through the craft of woodworking. This exhibition featured the U.S. premier of Swedish artist Claes Larsson, known as ClaesKamp, whose expressive woodcarvings reflect his punk rock roots and respond to contemporary issues facing the world. Primarily creating sculptures out of wood, Claes explores the border between traditional woodwork and the foundational experiences of his younger years with street art and punk. His techniques are surprising and in many ways topple the traditional rules of wood slöjd (handcraft eduction) in pursuit of the next generation…

Indoor plants bring color and life into our homes. They are small oases of nature that soothe our nerves and please our senses. This small plant stand has a clean design that displays plants without making a fuss about its own looks and yet is attractive to view in its own right. This design has a round resin “tabletop” that is as ultra-practical as it is impervious to water. Pouring your own resin top gives you the advantage of having nearly unlimited color variations at your fingertips. And that task will be made much easier by using a round silicone mold from Rockler. I have had mixed results making my own molds — breaking the hardened resin free from those molds is a common problem. They can be quite stubborn,…

Elegance can be simple in concept and execution, and this wine cabinet is a good example of just that. Made from only five pieces, it is beautiful by virtue of its rich wenge lumber and lifted to another level with its solid-brass hardware. When building small projects that you want to really make a statement, material selection is one essential key. Perhaps wenge is not a lumber you find attractive. If so, this wine cabinet would look amazing if made of bird’s eye, clouded big leaf or fiddleback maple. Highly figured walnut or quartersawn mahogany would also be good choices. The point is that if the design is basic, the “wow” factor must come from the beauty the wood provides. Then the hardware will enhance the whole. In a simple…