65 - Our Best Bench Yet, страница 5
TIPS & TECHNIQUES Clamping Tapered Pieces m As part of a recent remodeling job, I had to build several tapered, square columns for a living room. Each column was over six feet high and was constructed with mitered corners. Making the columns was the easy part—the challenge was in finding a way to clamp them together. Because these pieces were tapered, none of the clamps I had in my shop would work. So I made some special "clamps" out of '-thick plywood. I cut several squares and drilled a hole near each corner. Then I cut a square opening out of the middle with a jig saw, see drawings at far right. I made each opening progressively larger so that the squares would rest at different points on the column. Finally, I rounded over the sharp edges on the inside of each opening with a router and a round-over bit. After gluing up a column, I simply slide the squares over the end of the ' column one at a time, pressing each one down firmly, see detail 'a.' The squares held the column together SIPE VIEW round over inside edges b. TOP VIEW hole for glue squeezeout tightly while the glue set up. And the holes in the corners of the squares provided space for any glue squeezeout, see detail V Richard Beazer Rigby, Idaho NOTE: size openings in squares to fit around column at different points J - lay out opening and drill hole in each corner SECONP: cutout opening, then sand and round over edges column Router Crank ES The knob on my plunge router is small and hard to turn. To make it easier to use, I came up with a simple hand crank. The crank is nothing more than a piece of plywood with a large hole to match the size of the knob, see drawing below. I cut a slit in the edge of the plywood crank and then used a screw to pinch the crank around the knob on the router, see detail. To make a handle for the crank, I drilled a hole lengthwise through a short wood dowel. Finally, a carriage bolt, washer, and jam nut secure the handle to the crank. With this crank installed on my router, it's now a lot easier to make adjustments to the height of the bit. Brian Knvm Kokomo, Indiana Send in Your Shop Tips If you have a unique shop tip, we'd like to consider featuring it in one or more of our print or electronic publications. We'll pay up to $200 for a tip we publish. Just write down the tip and mail it to ShopNotes, Attn.: Readers' Tips, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312. Or FAX it to 515-282-6741, or send us an e-mail at shopnotes@shopnotes.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number in case we have any questions. plywood crank washer jam nut router knob carriage bolt dowel (drill hole in center) TOP VIEW slit crank No. 65 ShopNotes 5 |
