TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Readers' Tips

Sanding Long Notches

□ Occasionally, I build a project that requires cutting a long notch in a piece. That's the easy part. (I just use a sabre saw.) The trick is sanding the rough edge straight and smooth. If I

use a drum sander in the drill press, I often end up with a scalloped edge.

To prevent this, I use a long fence that's notched to fit around the drum sander, see drawing. With the "feet"

of the workpiece riding against the fence, it's easy to sand a straight edge.

SETUP. To sand the entire thickness of the edge, you'll also need a base with a hole cut in to accept the drum sander, see detail 'a.' After clamping the base to the drill press table, lower the drum sander into the hole and lock the quill. Then position the fence to sand to the desired depth and clamp it in place, see detail 'b.'

Now just turn on the drill press, and push the workpiece into the drum sander until it contacts the fence. Note: Start at the right end of the notch. Then slowly feed the workpiece from left to right.

Leon Schleusener Tomah, Wisconsin

Miter Gauge Extension

□ Using a miter gauge to cut multiple pieces to length on a table saw is easy — if the pieces are fairly short. I just clamp a stop block to a wood fence attached to the miter gauge.

But if the pieces are long, I've always had trouble cutting them to identical lengths. Unless I use an extremely long fence, there's no place to clamp a stop block. And such a

drill centered hole to fit insert

STOP BLOCK

(2" x 2" - 1'/₂"-thick \ hardwood)

EXTEN5I0N RAIL (1" x 40" - V-THICK aluminum BAR STOCK)

long fence would just get in the way most of the time.

So in order to cut long pieces to length quickly and accurately, I added a removable extension rail to the wood fence and then made a stop block to fit on the rail, see drawing.

EXTENSION RAIL. The extension rail is a thick piece of aluminum bar stock that attaches to the back of the wood fence. (You'll find bar stock at most home centers.)

To hold the rail in place, I cut two notches in the bottom edge of the aluminum bar to fit over screws installed in the fence. Tightening the screws secures the rail to the fence.

STOP BLOCK Next, I added a sliding stop block. It's a thick hardwood block with a wide kerf that fits over the rail. After positioning the stop block on the rail, just tighten a knob into a threaded insert to lock it in place.

Bob Anderson Omaha, Nebraska

drum y

sander\

'FOOT"

FENCE (³/₄"-THICK STOCK)

WORKPIECE

WASTE

NOTE: MAKE FENCE TWICE AS LONG AS WORKPIECE

b.__

4

ShopNotes

No. 49