Joinery - The Complete Guide to Woodworking Joinery

124 Pages·2014·68.682 MB·English

by  Thomas McKenna

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joinery – winter 2014
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T
© 2013 The Taunton Press
3
JOINERY
w
THE
BEST OF
32
BISCUIT-JOINT
BASICS
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32 Biscuits: Fast
Gearing Up Miters
and Versatile
16 Soup Up Your They’re great for solid wood 54 Box Miters
Plunge Router and plywood
Clean results and
BY TOM BEGNAL
easier glue-ups
Easy jigs and guides
for joints of all kinds 36 Dowels: Simple BY DOUG STOWE
BY GREGORY PAOLINI AND DAVID HYATT
and Strong
24 Work Safer Strategies for making sturdy 61 Frame Miters
with Featherboards furniture Picture frames, face frames,
BY ASA CHRISTIANA doors, and more
These helpers let you cut
joinery with confidence 40 Rabbets and Dadoes BY MARC ADAMS
BY BOB VAN DYKE
How to cut them safely Mortise & Tenons
Basic Joints on the tablesaw
BY MARC ADAMS 64 Low-Tech Mortising
28 Screws:
44 Pinned Rabbets: Drilling and chopping

Joinery in a Box
works in any shop
Perfect for Drawers
How to get maximum holding BY CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT
Strong and attractive, these
power in every situation
joints are a great alternative 68 Faster Mortises
BY ROBERT J. SETTICH
to traditional dovetails
by Machine
BY HENDRIK VARJU
Hollow-chisel mortisers
48 Router Joinery require some setup

for Doors BY ROLAND JOHNSON
Matched router bits
make it easy to build
a houseful of cabinets
BBYY MMIICCHHAAEELL PPEEKKOOVVIICCHH
24
84
WORK SAFER WITH
FEATHERBOARDS
EXPOSED
PEG JOINTS
54 110
BOX HALF-BLIND
MITERS DOVETAILS
72 Cut Tenons with Dovetails
Your Dado Set
98 Layout Basics
Fastest path to perfect results
BY MICHAEL PEKOVICH Design dovetails
for strength and style
75 Best Way
BY CHRIS GOCHNOUR
to Fit Tenons
102 Dovetails by Hand
92
Machines will get you close, JOINERY
but only a handplane Master woodworker FOR CURVED WORK
will deliver a piston fit demystifies this classic joint
BY CHRIS GOCHNOUR BY CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT
Departments
78 The Mighty Wedge 106 Dovetails on
the Tablesaw
Fixed or loose, wedged joinery
6 Editor’s Letter
adds strength and style Make perfect through-dovetails
BY JOHN NESSET every time
8 On the Web
BY GREGORY PAOLINI
84 The Pegged Joint,
10 Quick Tips
Exposed 110 Half-Blind Dovetails
116 Fast Fixes
in Half the Time
A complete guide, from flush
to proud to drawbored Get the hand-cut look
BY MATTHEW TEAGUE with the speed and
consistency of machines
92 Straightforward 64
BY STEPHEN HAMMER
Joinery for
LOW-TECH
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Your feedback is valuable to us
Pp
FineWoodworking.com
editor’s letter
THE
BEST
OF
Joinery
GET SERIOUS ABOUT JOINERY
Issue Editor Thomas McKenna
Even if your furniture has perfect proportions, glass-smooth surfaces, and a
Issue Art Director Michael Pekovich
flawless finish, it will fall apart in time if the joinery isn’t up to snuff. After all,
Issue Copy Editor Elizabeth Healy
the essence of fine woodworking—building pieces to last—is being able to cut
Contributing Designer Catherine Cassidy
and fit sound joinery.
Most furniture has more than one type of joint in it, with each assigned a
specific function in the piece—dovetails for drawers, mortise-and-tenons for
doors or table legs. That means you need to know how to cut a wide range of
joints. Fortunately, they’re all here in this special collection of articles from Fine
Woodworking magazine. Editor Asa Christiana
We combed our archives to find
Art Director Michael Pekovich
the best, most comprehensive joinery
Managing Editor Thomas McKenna
techniques. Some are traditional
Senior Editors Matthew Kenney
and recognizable, while others truly
Jonathan Binzen
are cutting edge. Take dovetails, for
Associate Editors Steve Scott
instance. We offer a time-tested hand- Ben Blackmar
cut method, but for those who prefer
Senior Copy/ Elizabeth Healy
power tools, we’ve included two fast Production Editor
machine methods using either the Deputy Art Director Kelly J. Dunton
bandsaw or tablesaw. Each one allows
Associate Art Director John Tetreault
you to be creative with the layout and
Administrative Assistant Betsy Engel
make dovetails that look handmade.
Shop Manager William Peck
But it’s not just dovetails. We’ll also
show you how to cut clean miters with Contributing Editors C hristian Becksvoort
Garrett Hack
precision, how to tackle tight-fitting Roland Johnson
Steve Latta
mortise-and-tenons even if the pieces
Michael Fortune
are curved, and where and how to use
Methods of Work Jim Richey
screws, dowels, and biscuits effectively.
Finally, we’ll show you how to fix, FineWoodworking.com
or hide, the most common joinery
Executive Web Producer Mather Dolph
mistakes we all make—even the pros.
Senior Web Producer Ed Pirnik
So dive in and discover new, or
Web Producer Lisa Raleigh
better, ways to work. Soon you’ll be
well-prepped to build any type of
The Best of Fine Woodworking: (ISSN: 1936-8127)
furniture, from boxes to tables to is published by The Taunton Press, Inc., Newtown, CT
06470-5506. Telephone [phone]. Canadian GST
chests of drawers, and to build each
paid registration #123210981.
one to last. Printed in the USA
—Tom McKenna, Joinery editor

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2011 The Taunton P
ress
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www.finewoodworking.com JOINERY 7
on the web
FineWoodworking.com/joinery
Visit our website for a whole host of joinery tips and techniques. From dovetails and dadoes to mortise-
and-tenons and more, we’ve got you covered. Plus, become an online member to access our extensive
archive of articles and videos, or check out the free videos listed below.
Tips for Tablesawn
Dovetails
Group Publisher Anatole Burkin
[email protected]
When faced with a daunting
number of dovetails, set VP, Advertising Sales Rick Straface
[email protected]
down your router and fire
up your tablesaw. Our quick Digital Sales Director Peter Badeau
video takes you through the 203-304-3572
[email protected]
entire process, step by step.
Advertising Sales Kelly Ames Smith
Manager 203-304-3840
[email protected]
Free eLetter Custom Solutions Brenden Delaney
Gbey ts firgenein pgl aunps ,f ovrid oeuors F, RanEdE aerLteicttleesr Manager [email protected]
at FineWoodworking.com/ Senior National Linda Abbett
newsletter. Account Manager 203-304-3538
[email protected]
Advertising Sales Diana Mackey
Assistant
Director of Advertising Karen Lutjen
Sales Marketing
Advertising Marketing Laura Holt
Associate
Member Audit
Bureau of Circulation
Digital Marketing Sara Ezrin Larsen
Director
Product Marketing Melissa Robinson
Director
3 Steps to Great Glue-Ups Better Joints with a Handsaw
Senior Director, Michael Stoltz
From edge joints and mortise-and-tenon joints to Why bother with finicky machinery and jig setups Interactive
dovetails and dadoes, our series on great glue-ups when building a one-off furniture project? The Web Design Director Jodie Delohery
will ensure that your joints stick for the long haul. humble backsaw is ready to go, straight out of your
Learn the how, why, and where for gluing a wide toolbox. Learn a variety of exercises designed to
variety of woodworking’s most common joints. boost accuracy when cutting joints by hand.
Become an online member
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Founders, Paul & Jan Roman
Access more than 1,000 exclusive project and technique videos by subscribing to FineWoodworking President Timothy Rahr
.com. You’ll also get more than 35 years of magazine archives at your fingertips, including 1,400-plus Chief Digital Offi cer John Brown
articles and project plans.
Group Publisher Anatole Burkin
Group Publisher Maria Taylor
SVP, Creative & Editorial Susan Edelman
Sharpen Your Tablesaw Skills
SVP, Operations Thomas Luxeder
VP, Single Copy Sales Jay Annis
Learn how to unlock your tablesaw’s full
VP, Consumer Marketing Nancy Hallberg
potential with furniture maker and teacher
VP, Advertising Sales Rick Straface
Marc Adams. Our latest workshop highlights
VP & Controller Wayne Reynolds
a variety of techniques, including how to:
VP, Finance Kathy Worth
● Build your own splitters and zero-clearance VP, Human Resources Carol Marotti
throat plates
VP, Fulfi llment Patricia Williamson
● Construct a custom crosscut sled Publishers of magazines, books, videos, and online
Fine Woodworking • Fine Homebuilding
● Tackle basic joinery Threads • Fine Gardening • Fine Cooking
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8 FINE WOODWORKING
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© 2013 The Taunton Press
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www.finewoodworking.com JOINERY 9
quick tips
Clamp jaw
Screws secure
vise to bench.
EDITED AND DRAWN BY JIM RICHEY
Star knob
Portable vise is great for dovetailing
Adjustable stop
Threaded rod
Spring
Clamp jaw
Vertical MMaakkee tthheessee ppaarrttss
fence ffrroomm hhaarrddwwoooodd..
I made this fixture for routing away the waste
Adjustable stop
between pins in half-blind dovetails, but it also
sets depth of cut.
works well for tasks like sawing the tails or
routing a dovetail socket in the top of a table leg.
It is essentially a portable, twin-screw vise
mounted on a right-angle bracket that gets
screwed to the edge of a bench. An adjustable
stop at the rear of the fixture sets the router’s
depth of cut.
Use a tough hardwood like oak or maple for the
wooden parts. Make the twin screws from 3⁄8-in.
threaded rod cut into 7-in. lengths and mount
them in a pair of holes that are either tapped or
fitted with threaded inserts. A pair of matching
but slightly larger holes in the clamp jaw allow
for a sliding fit. I counterbored these holes on the
backside to accommodate compression springs
tthhaatt mmaakkee iitt eeaassiieerr ttoo ooppeenn tthhee jjaaww.. FFiinnaallllyy,, II gglluueedd
Align and clamp
a thin vertical fence to the fixture, drilling through workpiece so end is
the fence to accommodate the left-hand screw, to flush at top.
keep the workpiece perpendicular.
Clamp the workpiece in place so the end is
flush with the top of the vise. Now set the stop
parallel to the work so that it stops the bit on—or
just short of—the baseline.
I like a 1⁄4-in. straight bit for this task because it
lets me cut to full depth in one pass and is easy to
control. After routing as close to the layout lines
as I dare, I keep the workpiece in the vise and
trim the pins to fit with a sharp chisel. Vertical fence
—PHILIP A. HOUCK,, BBoossttoonn,, MMaassss.. aligns stock
at 90°.
10
FINE WOODWORKING