Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-01, страница 34

One of the handiest tools you can get your hands on is a router. You will not need the largest 3-horscpower wizbang, utiles? you intend to do a lot of windows, doors and moldings and use it in place of a shaper. h'or years I used the least expensive Sears routers I could buy. When it began to scream, I threw it away and bought a new one. They were all 1/4" and held up remarkably well. It only took two when we built, our house for a total cost of $'70, and that was in the 60's. Today we have routers available that take shanks from 1/8" up to 1/2". Although the 1/8" is a multi-tool with a router base, it is very handy in tight places.

One of the most common uses for a router is rabbeting, or to cut a rectangular groove in the comer or edge of a board. This is usually done to receive a lid, door, or panel. The handiest method is to roul it with a rabbeting bit. You can buy them specifically for the dimension you require, such as 1/4", 5/16", etc. Buying them that way is a sure way to increase your collection of bits and drain your pockets in the process, whereas, you can buy one bit. in either 1/4" or 1/2" shank size with a number of bearings. That way you are equipped lor any size you need with only a small cash outlay. They are available from any catalog merchant and any well-equipped tool store with prices ranging from as little as $20 up to more than $50 (carbide runs higher in cost than tool steel). Don't think that the lower-cost carbide bit is just as good as those costing considerably more. There are 4 grades of carbide used in tools such as this, and as you would expect, the better grades cost more; they not only last longer, they cut better.

There you have it: a tool that fills an important nichc, covers more than one application, a price to fit any pockctbook, and whose justification to a frugal significant other docs not stretch credibility. In short, how CAN she say no?

34 • Creative Woodworks S. Crafts January 2004

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The bark is : brownish-gray, \ furrowed with a i smooth top. ncar-■lv shiny. Native |Americans and |early colonists ;used the inner | bark and nut I husks as a dark I stain for their E; clothing and uni-|forms. I have Ssecn reports that |^: the bark has been £ collected for its !' medicinal value.

Butternut, Juglans cinerea, is also know as white walnut and grows from western New Brunswick west to northern Minnesota, south to western South Carolina and across to Arkansas. It is a tree that prefers fertile, well-drained soil, but is also found along stream banks in damp upper elevations mixed with other hardwoods. This tree has never been economically important because it is not as common as oak, maple, and ash, but has still been overharvested due to its popularity. It is a fast growing species with a lifespan of about 100 years. It has attained heights of 100 ft with diameters up to 36" and usually divides 20 to 30 feet off the ground; however, here in the northeast it seldom excceds 20" diameter or a height of 75 1'cet. Where it grows in competition with other trees, it can grow straight, but when open grown, it is usually crooked, with several stems of poor lumber value. The sap is sometimes collected and boiled to produce syrup, but the tree does not produce a great, volume of it compared to sugar maple, and therefore is not economical to produce.

What tools are necessary?

Basically, for fretwork, if you have a method of drilling starter holes, a method of holding a fret blade, and a clamp, then you are in business. If you think that answer is a bit glib, consider this: You do not need a shop, just a kitchen table and some wood. It is only the element of time dial pressures us into more elaborate tools and surroundings. However, if we wish to advance to more elaborate work that requires putting two or more parts together, things gel a bit more involved. Now we need to be more accurate in cutting the areas to be joined, and knowledgeable in methods of fastening the parts together. If you master woodworkers reading this think all of our readers know these things or can figure them out, you are wrong. Just look at the number of woodworking schools that have cropped up around the country and are booking months in advance. So if it seems that I am dwelling on basic woodworking tools and techniques, it is because I get more requests for that kind of information than the kind that involves the newest attachment available for your $2500 table saw.

The whole thing about woodworking is pursuing the enjoyment that it can provide without going broke. That, my friend, can be the most difficult part of the pursuit. There are two afflictions that you must be aware of: one is that of "Tool Junkie," and two is (hat. of "Wood Junkie." Unfortunately, you will more than likely be afflicted with both at the same time, and that can put a serious strain on a relationship with your significant other. The real hazard of the afflictions is that the true need to acquire the tool or particular piece of wood is difficult to distinguish from the desire to own it! This is especially true when you convince her that the special project you arc making for her is at a standstill because you "need" that particular (you fill in the blank) that you just found in the store in your town or that latest catalog you pulled out of the mailbox. Wow, now you are really into it. Another one that works is to buy her the tool that she can use so that she can join in on the fun. The secret is to keep her out of the shop! The only problem with this one is divorce. You could lose your whole shop. You might anyway in the settlement, but you are sure to lose every tool that was purchased under that pretext, and I bet. she would never use them out of spite. So you young woodworkers out there, choose your partners well. I've got about 67 other surefire reasons to buy whatever you really need, and need her approval (permission) for, but I bet there are some real doozics you folks use (and get away with).

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