Popular Woodworking 2002-08 № 129, страница 15

Q & A

It's Hip to be Square in Woodworking

How to Get Square and Stay Square: Good Habits and a Simple Jig

When I build any kind of box, large or small, for cabinets or even a toy box, I try to keep the case square. I've learned the hard way that fitting doors, drawers and lids later is a real problem if the box is out of square. I try to make sure my assembly is square when gluing up, but too often it doesn't square up. What am I doing wrong?

Robert Eddington

Denver, Colorado

Some care and planning before and during assembly will save you time and aggravation. Develop some good habits, and you might just banish out-of-square problems forever.

First, make sure your box parts are sized correctly. Obviously, sides that aren't the same length, or tops and bottoms that aren't the same, will cause a problem. Next, make sure your saw is set to cut a true 90° angle so that mating parts will more assuredly form a square, 90° angle. When gluing up, don't apply so much clamp pressure that you put a bow or belly in any parts.

Another assembly trick I use involves corner squares. I make these from ³/4"-thick plywood and clamp them in opposite corners of any box or case glue up. These handy yet inexpensive squares set and hold the parts correctly so

you can go about your business of clamping the case and cleaning up glue squeeze-out.

To build these clamping squares, use up some 12" square plywood scraps. First, make sure you have two adjacent edges square, then form the two legs of the square so each leg is about 4" wide. Be sure and nip the corner of the square so that glue squeeze-out doesn't glue the square to the box. Of course, when you are cutting the clamping squares, make sure your saw blade is cutting a square edge as well.

To use them, first set a pair of straight 2 x 4s on edge under the assembly to allow clamp placement on the bottom square. By the way, elevating your assembly on 2 x 4s also allows you to easily position clamps under the work. When clamping the squares in place, don't clamp them too tightly while you are clamping the case together. Fully tighten the clamping squares later.

— Steve Shanesy, editor and publisher

Right- vs. Left-tilt Table Saws

I just finished reading your review of table saws (February 2002) and I have a question. You said that you think left-tilt machines are safer, but you didn't elaborate. I'm just wondering what the safety difference is between left-tilt and right-tilt saws.

I currently have a Craftsman contractor's saw, which has served me well for years, but

I am thinking of upgrading to a bigger and more powerful Delta. Delta machines, except for the larger cabinet saws, are right-tilting. This isn't something I've thought about until now. Any assistance you can offer will be appreciated.

John Borley Toronto, Canada

You ask a fair question. When using a right-tilt table saw with the blade tilted to make a bevel cut and using the fence to the right of the blade (which is the standard setup), the waste piece will rest/fall on the blade, making kickbacks possible. A left-tilt saw allows the waste to fall to the table beneath the blade without any kickback concerns. Conversely, if you're using your miter gauge on the left of the blade to make miter cuts, a right-tilt saw is safer. With many of today's rip fences the left/right question has become less important for safety because you can easily work on either side of the blade and fence. All you need to do is consider where the waste falls.

There are two more important points regarding a left-tilt saw's advantages. First, with the fence to the right of the blade on right-tilt saws, cutting a bevel on narrow stock is dangerous because the blade virtually covers the material. On stock that is 2" or 3" wide or less, any tendency of the stock to lift will get ugly quickly because the blade is covering one edge, leading to a serious kickback. Second, on very narrow stock, some bevel cuts become virtually impossible with the fence to the right of the blade.

I have used right-tilt saws for years and still do in my home shop. Ultimately, I've learned to saw "left-handed" at home with the fence positioned to the left the the blade. It still feels a bit awkward but much less so than it did at first. After some practice, I have achieved some competence and a bit of a comfort level while sawing left-handed.

— David Thiel, senior editor, and Steve Shanesy, editor and publisher

Am I Suffering From Backlash in My Vintage Hand Plane?

I recently restored a yard-sale hand plane; it's a Craftsman smoothing plane (the equivalent of Stanley's No. 4) from the late 1960s or early 1970s, and it is in great shape.

After cleaning it, flattening the sole and honing the iron, I tried it out only to find the iron slipped backwards into the plane's continued on page 16

14 Popular Woodworking August 2002