Popular Woodworking 2005-04 № 147, страница 18
VERMONT AMERICAN PURCHASES HELP OUR MILITARY FAMILIES IN NEED When troops are deployed, their families are left to meet challenges alone. Vermont American Bits and Blades is proud to sponsor the VFW's Unmet Needs Program, which helps ensure those financial challenges never become overwhelming. Through Unmet Needs, families receive aid for things like home and auto repairs, child-care, emergency medical expenses, even mortgage and rent payments. A portion of each Vermont American purchase goes to support this vital program. To learn more or to help with your personal donation, visit unmetneeds.com or call 866-769-NEED. Q & A continued from page 14 caught my eye. I can't remember if that workbench was the subject of an article or not. Can you help me out? And where would I find some decent yellow pine to build it? Terry Falknor West Milton, Ohio The workbench is our "$175 Workbench," which was published in the February 2001 issue (#120). Because that back issue is no longer available, we have made the plan available for free on our web site. Visit popwood.com and click on the "Free Project Plans" link. The only major alterations I have made to the bench include replacing the wooden-jawed vise with a traditional metal-jawed face vise and cutting the legs so the bench is 34" high. To find Southern yellow pine, your best bet is to visit the Southern Pine Council's web site at southernpine.com. The site has a "product locator" that allows you to search for dealers by state. Southern pine isn't for sale everywhere, but it's more widely available than most suspect. Also, when choosing your boards for the project, you'll find the wider and longer boards are the clearest and straightest. There's more ripping involved, but the extra effort is worth it because the stock is vastly superior. — Christopher Schwarz, executive editor Should Plywood and Solid Wood Be Stored Flat or On Edge? I have some plywood that is standing up against an 8'-high wall. I also have some that is lying flat. Both of them seem to develop a curl to them after awhile. Is there a right and wrong way to store plywood? If so what is the best way to store it? How about storing dry hardwood lumber? Does it matter how it is stored? I was going to build a compartment that could organize and store my hardwoods standing on end. Some of the lumber is 8' long. Guy LaRochelle Zenon Park, Saskatchewan I've found that plywood—especially the thinner varieties — tends to curl no matter what you do. Perhaps it's because of uneven moisture exchange or perhaps the wood used in the core is drying unevenly. Many times the curl will correct itself if air can circulate all around the panel. Our local lumberyard stores plywoodflat in the warehouse, and the weight of the materia keeps the pieces flat. Then they put it in the showroom on edge so you can flip through it and select what you need. Because of this tendency of the material to curl (and because plywood takes up so much space) I purchase plywood right as I begin a project and then work quickly with it so it doesn't curl up during construction. So my way around the storage problem is to not store it. For dry hardwoods, either storage method is commonly employed. If you have a basement shop, you might want to avoid storing the lumber on end. Basement floors can get a little damp. — Christopher Schwarz, executive editor How Do You Flatten a Panel With Hand Planes? On a couple of recent projects my glued-up panels have been slightly bowed (probably from poor clamping technique). I've used a well tuned No. 4 smoothing plane to level them out, but I'm wondering if a jack plane or a jointer plane would do a better (and quicker) job. I've also considered getting a belt sander for this task. What is the best approach? Robert Barron Madison, Alabama I find belt sanders too aggressive and they require great skill to wield accurately. I tend to use hand tools because I find it more enjoyable and less prone to error (though it may actually be a bit slower). Here's my technique: I use a jack plane and jointer plane plus winding sticks—perfectly straight pieces of wood that allow me to sight down the panel and see any warp, bow or twist. Once I identify the problem areas, I mark off the high spots with chalk and then knock them down with my jack plane. On a jack plane the iron should be cambered with a fingernail shape and the cut should be pretty rank. You want to remove material quickly. Once the panel looks flat, I turn to my jointer plane. It has a slightly cambere d iron and takes a finer cut. Take passes at 45° all the way across the face one way and then 45° the other way. Don't worry about tear-out. This process just gets the panel flat. Check your work with your winding sticks. Once the panel is flat, come back with your jointer plane and take a few passes with the grain to clean up the diagonal marks. Now you're ready for either sanding, scraping or smoothing with a No. 4 plane, whatever you do to get your panel ready for finishing. PW — Christopher Schwarz, executive editor 16 1 Popular Woodworking April 2005 |
