Transcription
WoodSummer 1976, 2.50
Fine woodworking deservesthis fine wood finish. E ARTS. CRAfTS' You've put in hours of hard work on your wood working so give it the best finish you can versatile Deft Clear Wood Finish. It both sealsand finishes. Dries in just 30 minutes to a crystal clear semi-gloss* that won't yellow or darkenwith age. It's ready to re-coat in two hours three coats give an alcohol and water-resistantfinish. Nicks and scratches touch up easily,and Deft won't "skin over" or dry in the can.So finish your fine woodworking with this finefinish-your work deserves Deft.FREE CATALOG gives wood staining andfinishing tips. Send self-addressed 9" x 12"envelope, stamped with 52 J: postage to Deft,Inc. Dept. FW, 17451 Von Karman Avenue,Irvine, CA 92714.*Beautiful also when hand· rubbed or when used in French polishing.There can only be one best .In woodworking benches it's LERVADCompare Lervad, feature for feature, with any other woodworkingbench and you will see what we mean.Start with the 4-point hold system. It's exclusive with Lervad all other production benches have a 2-point hold. It incorporatesa double row of surface slots, each row fitted with spring loaded steel dogs. These work against identical dogs in thefull-width tail vise. When the workpiece is positionedbetween the surface dogs and the vise dogs tighteningthe vise will lock the piece in almost any position.You can approach the project from all sides and seldomhave to reposition the work.And that tailvise; it's a smooth working engineeringtriumph, made of solid Danish beech and fitted with highgrade tool steel rods and spindle. The shoulder vise isalso brilliantly engineered with jaws completelyunimpeded by rods or spindle.The3" thick solid Danish beech top is sanded to tolerancesof .008" and, like fine furniture, it is impregnated with rawlinseed oil and finished with two coats of clear lacquer topreserve these amazing tolerances.Lervad benches comes in four sizes in capacities up to 80".There are two models with storage cabinets; another easy-foldsfor quick storage. A 16-page manual "How To Use Your LervadBench" is included with each bench.UOur ads usually carry a tear-off coupon to help you request ourliterature. We know you don't want to deface this fine magazine so,if you want more information about the world's finest woodworkingbenches - and our other excellent quality, hard-to-find tools - justsend your name, address and zip to:LEICHTUNG c701#17FW44143or call us at (216) 461-4677Beta DriveCleveland, Ohio
FineWoodW(ork-Ing ! ! Summer 1976, Volume 1, Number 3CONTENTS4Letters8Books10Craftsman's Galleryby John Kelsey: Shop / gallery combination works inPhiladelphia11Authors12Wood16Mortise and Tenon22The Christian Traditionby R. Bruce Hoadley: A look at this fundamental materialby Tage Frid: Choosing and making this basic jointby Francis J. Newton: Portland Museum mountsexquisite showEditor and Publisher24Paul RomanHand Shapingby Daniel Jackson: A simple approach to sculpturingwood26Contributing EditorsYankee Diversityby Jere Osgood: Boston show features interestingdesignsTage FridR . Bruce HoadleyAlastair A. StairRobert Sutter28Plane Speakingby Robert Sutter: One man ' s guide to the more usefulones30Desert Cabinetryby Thomas A . Simons IV: Coping with six percentmOIstureAssociate Editor34Hidden DrawersJohn Kelsey37Green BowlsAssociate Publisher40by Alastair A. Stair: Some eighteenth-century examplesby Alan Stirt: Turn unseasoned wood, dry it, then turnagamQueen Anneby Franklin H. Gottshall: Styling elements used in tabledesignsJanice A. Roman42Gate-Leg Tableby Paul Buckley : A contemporary version of a classicdesignEditorial AssistantRuth Maidman44Turning ConferenceSubscription Service46Stroke Sander52Furnitu re Plans:Advertising Consultant55Sources of Supply (continued)Granville M . Fillmore56I've GotCarole E. AndoCover: Scanning electronby John Kelsey: Notes and information on a recentgatheringby M . G. Rekoff, Jr.: Building a machine to smooth flatpanelsA listing of what's available in book and sheet forma Secret : "Little Man " of walnutmicroscope photographFine Woodworking is published quarterly, March, June, September and December, by Theshows structure of yellow birch. Large vertical cellsTaunton Press, Inc., Taunton Lake Road, Newtown, CT 06470, Telephone (203) 426-are vessels,8171. Second-class postage paid at Newtown, CT 06470 and additional mailing offices.the smaller ones mostly fibers.Theladder-like structures in the large vessels are theCopyright 1976 by The Taunton Press, Inc. No reproduction without permission of Thediagonal endwalls through which sap travels. Ra Taunton Press, Inc. Subscription rates: United States and possessions, S8.00 for one year,dial ray cells and rays are clearly visible in allS15.00 for two years; foreign rate, 9.00 for one year. Single copy 2.50. Postmaster: Sendsurfaces. Center of tree would be toward lower right.notice of undelivered copies on form 3 5 79 to : The Taunton Press, PO Box 3 5 5 , Newtown,Photo from the Center for U Itrastructures Studies,CT 06470. Forwarding and return postage guaranteed. Please address all subscription ,SUNY,editorial and advertising correspondence to The Taunton Press, PO Box 3 5 5 , Newtown , CTForestry.College of Environmental Science and06470.3
LETTERS. . . . As Me. Mattia states, there are many ways to makedovetails. Some of my peculiarities may be of some benefit tosome readers.To begin with, most dovetail sawing is ripping ; conven tional dovetail saws are ground with cross-cutting teeth andhave a round . pistol" grip . This makes for unnecessary strainand wobble for those of us not hugely muscled nor intenselydedicated. Great comfort, peace of mind, and accuracy can beobtained by having two dove-tail saws, both with convention al hand-saw handles, one ground for ripping, one forcross-cutting, the latter of which I make noticeable bychiseling an "X" on the handle. Any good professional sawsharpener can convert cross-cut to .raker teeth" for ripping.If one has a good number of dovetails to cut, e.g. 36 inchesof dovetails on each corner of assorted drawers for a chest, itmakes for considerable convenience to have a template ofbrass or aluminum on hand . Time making accurate templateswill be repaid ten-fold in time saved. Scribing for pins theutails can be frustrating if the stock is thick, the pins narrow .The labor saved by using a j ig saw or tight band saw to cuttails to me is as reasonable as using a table saw to cut stock.Sawing pins is simpler by hand.If marks are scribed rather than penciled, it should not benecessary to raise a light chip to preserve the mark so thechisel is placed precisely. A sharp chisel of the correct widthcan always find and hold a scribed line . I prefer to scribedepth lines with the material used, because sides of drawersare thinner than fronts or backs, etc.I do not denigrate the use of a file; a fine flat file hashelped to thin many a slightly recalcitrant tail or pin. Afterall , it is known as the " cabinetmaker' s friend. " Fine dovetailsin thin wood can sometimes use a fine triangular file.Life has been simpler since I routinely dado' d all the sidesof a drawer before dove-tailing - the slot is a constant pointof reference for the inside of the board .Paul W. Carn ey, DeKalb, III.I am wrmng in regard to your Spring ' 76 issue of FineWoodworking. In the article "Textbook Mistakes," Tage Fridtalked about how it was better to glue boards with the endgrain in the same direction because it is easier to hold downone big warp than smaller warps. It seems to me than if whathe says is true, it wouldn ' t make any difference whether youuse one wide board or many small ones because they will bothwarp the same.Myself, being in the custom furniture and repair business, Isee that in antique furniture where larger pieces of wood areused, there are obvious warps in those pieces. Whereas thereseems to be no warp when glued up in narrower widths, withthe end grain alternated. The method Tage Frid recommendsseems very risky, especially on table leaves without skirts.I also question what he says about dowel joints as com pared to mortise and tenon, especially if you want yourfurniture to last longer than yourself. The mortise and tenonjoint is good, but people like driving nails through them toYou Don't Need Expensive Industrial Equipment!It Takes Fine Toolslow-DO Precision Work Every TimeWith IICA SWISS Stationary Power TooislINCA 10" Cabinetmaker's Saw.Features include: Exclusiveprecision mitre guide with dropstop for accurate repeat cuts.Ri p fence guide r a i l s dovetailed into top.Permanent powertakeoff f o r pro f e s s i onal 3-jaw,V2" c a p a ci t ychuck; precision,full function mor tise table; longh o l e bori n g ;dowel drilling;sanding attach ments. to produce fine wood work, whetber youmake your own furniture, carve, sculpt,do occasional repairs, or are a cabinet maker. Garrett Wade offers you "a beau tiful and extensive line of imported bandtools" and "tbe most complete selection"of workbencbes in tbe U.S. (PopularMechanics, Marcb, 1976.)Garrett Wade tools let you do better,easier, safer work. 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Letters (continued)hold them tight, which only leaves the furniture repair manone choice of chiseling the wood away from the nail to pull it.Then when the joint is apart, the glue must be scraped orsanded off which in many cases leaves the joint sloppy andrequires wedges to make it tight again. As with dowels peopledon't nail them nearly as often, and are easily replaced ifbroken or sanded too small. The dowel may not be as good intheory, but to me seems superior in repairing, and in givingthe original tightness that old loose chairs once had.Jim Surgent,Missoula,Montana. . . . With respect to Tage Frid' s article in the March issue .I certainly agree, dowels are not necessary for strength , buthow do you keep all these boards lined up when joining aneight-foot table rop? We all would love to work with perfectlumber, but it is not often you come across an eight-footboard of walnut that doesn ' t have a crook or two! By the timeyou plane and joint this wood it' s better, but when you go toedge glue-let 's say your boards are six inches wide-it wouldbe very difficult to clamp these boards accurately at the edgeswithout some type of guide.cause a split. The sketch showing an alternate grain panel wasvery much exaggerated and never happens to dry wood.H. C. Conkling,Jr. , South Dartmouth, Mass.Tage Frid replies : "Responding to Mr. Van Sinderen, in thetype of furniture I do , I am usually gluing up planed boardsof the same or nearly the same thickness. I temporarily clampbattens (such as 2 by 4' s) top and bottom across the boards toalign them . I remove the battens once the boards areclamped. ""Responding to Mr. Conkling, the drawing of the grain di rections was exaggerated for clarity. Whenever I screw a top toa base, I always provide for the top 's movemen t. One methodIron Horse Antiques, Inc.North America's largest dealerin antique toolsfor the collector and craftsmannow offers three catalogsDonald Van Sinderen,Pembroke, Maineper year (March, June, October).Send. . . . The article by Tage Frid was great, and I agree witheverything he said except one . I can ' t imagine anyone whothinks so clearly would suggest gluing up table tops and notalternating the grain. He was correct in what would happen ifyou do not altetnate grain, but the hold down screw can also 6.00 for an annual subscription to:Iron Horse Antiques, Inc.Dept.FRO#2Poultney, Vermont 05764(Sample back issues are available al 1.50 each.)Their Oak; 36.Our Oak; 25.The only difference is 11 bucks.- ----- ,J0hnarraHIWOOD & SUPPLYOur hardwoods are not cheap, just cheaper.And we offer a wider selection of hardwoods.Veneers thru lumber. We have the old familyfavorites like maple, cherry and mahogany plusthe exotics like bubinga, padouk and cocoabola.Send for our free catalog. Illustrated withwood veneers, it lists all our hardwoods, all ourpre cut I urnber sizes and explains how we willcut your lumber order to your specifications Mail the coupon, or come down and see us.We can make a difference in ho
In woodworking benches it's LERVAD Compare Lervad, feature for feature, with any other woodworking bench and you will see what we mean. Start with the 4-point hold system. It's exclusive with Lervad - all other production benches have a 2-point hold. It incorporates a double row of surface slots, each row fitted with spring loaded steel dogs. These work against identical dogs in the full .
