Issue 68

March 2003

publisher Donald B. Peschke editor Terry J. Strohman associate editors Bryan Nelson Vincent Ancona contributing editor Phil Huber

art director Cary Christensen sr. graphic designer Kui't SchllltZ senior illustrators Roger Reiland Mark Higdon

CREATIVE RESOURCES

Creative Director: Ted Kralicek • Sr. Project Designers: Ken Munkel, Kent Welsh, Ryan Mimick, Chiis Fitch • Shop Craftsmen: Steve Curtis, Steve Johnson ♦ Sr. Photographer. Crayola England

SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS

Corp. V.P.: Douglas L. Hicks • Art Director. Douglas A. Flint • Sr. Graphic Designer: Chris Glowacki • Graphic Designers: Vu Nguyen, Jonathan Eike • Senior Editor. Craig Ruegsegger • Asst. Editor. Joel A. Hess • Editorial Intern: Cindy Thurmond

CIRCULATION

Subscriber Services Director. Sandy Baum • New Business Dir.: Wayde J. Klingbeil • Circulation Marketing Analysts: Kris Schlemmer, Paula M. DeMatteis • Renewal Manager. Paige Rogers • Sr. Graphic Designers: Mark Hayes, Robin Friend • Bill big & Collections Mgr.: Rebecca Cunningham • Promotion Analyst Patrick Walsh

CORPORATE SERVICES

VP. of Finance: Mary R. Scheve • Controller: Robin K. Hutchinson • Sr. Acct: Laura J. Thomas • Accts. Payable: Mary J. Schultz • Accts. Receimbler. Marge Petrus • Prod. Dir.: George Chmielarz • Electronic Pub. Dir.: Douglas M. Lidster » System Admin.: Oris Schwanebeck • P.O. Maint. Tech.: Robert D. Cook • Pre-Press Image Specialists: Troy Clark, Minniette Johnson • New Media Mgr.: Gordon C. Gaippe • Multimedia Art Dir.: Eugene Pedersen • Web Server Admin.: Carol Schoeppler • Web Content Mgrs.: David Briggs, Sue M. Moe • Web Designer: Kara Blessing • Prof. Dev. Dir.: Michal Sigel • II. R. Assf.: Kirsten Koele • Office Mgr.: Natalie Lonsdale • Facilities Mgr.: Kurt Johnson • Admin. Asst.: Jeanne Johnson • Mail Room Clerk: Lou Webber

MAIL ORDER

Operations Director: Bob Baker 'Customer Service Mgr.: Jennie Enos • Warehouse Supr.: Nancy Johnson ♦ Buyer: Linda Jones • Admin. Asst.: Nancy Downey • Sr. Gust. Serv. Reps.: Tammy Truckenbrod, Anna Cox, Deborah Rich, April Revell • Cust. Sen:. Reps.: Valerie Jo Riley, Kim Harlan • Warehouse: Sylvia Carey

WOODSMITH STORE

Manager. Dave Larson • Merchandise Marketing Mgr.: John Siberell • Asst.Mgr.: Tim Thelen • Sales Staff: Wendell Stone, Larry Morrison, Gregory Kauzlarich, Mark Johnson, Brian McCallum • Office Mgr.: Vicki Edwards

ShopNotes® (ISSN 10(52-96%) is published bimont hly (Jan., March, May, July, Sept., Nov.) by August Home Publishing, 2200 Grand, Des Moines, IA 50312.

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EDITOR'S NOTE

Cutoffs

Clamp. Plunge. Slide. That's all there is to it. The first time I used the mortising machine featured in this issue I couldn't believe how quick, easy, and accurate it was.

All I had to do was lock the work-piece in place with a couple of hold-downs. Then I grabbed the handle and pulled. The carriage that held the router slid forward almost effortlessly, plunging the router bit into the workpiece. At that point, I simply moved the sliding table side to side, slicing the mortise to length. Before I knew it, I had a perfect, smooth-sided mortise. Just that quick and easy.

But that's just part of the story. The mortise that took less than a minute to make was actually weeks in the making.

The biggest challenge with a project like the mortising machine is movement. Anytime you add a moving part to a project you increase its complexity — and the potential for inaccuracy.

Now dealing with movement in one direction can be tricky enough. But with the mortising machine we had to deal with movement in three

directions: up and down, side to side, and back and forth. At the same time, it had to be dead-on accurate.

The solution we came up with involves mounting the router horizontally. The workpiece rests on a sliding table that sits on top of a pair of opposing wedges. These wedges allow the table to be raised and lowered very precisely.

But arriving at the basic design of the mortising machine was only half the battle. The next step was to find the right hardware to make it all work. What we decided on was nothing too exotic: a pair of drawer slides, some aluminum channel, a few springs, and a couple handfuls of assorted knobs and fasteners. But it was just what we needed to get things moving.

Even if you don't build the mortising machine, choosing the right materials and hardware for your jigs is always important. That's why you might want to take a look at the article on page 22.

On the Web

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Woodworking Shop Tours

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Visit other ShopNotes subscribers' workshops and see photos of the shop projects they've built. It's all online at Woodworking Shop Tours on the ShopNotes web site: www.ShopNotes.com We want you to be part of our shop tours! To submit photos of your favorite ShopNotes projects or views of your shop, just follow the instructions you'll find on our web site.

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ShopNotes

No. 68