A router can help you turn sharp edges into decorative profiles of all sorts. It will machine dadoes and grooves, rabbets, dovetails, mortises, tenons, box joints and more. Need to duplicate a bunch of parts? That’s no problem for a router and a template. It can even surface plane, joint edges flat, carve lettering, cut circles and bore holes. The “can-do” list goes on and on.

The reason a vintage router or a brand-new one work almost equally well has to do with the tool’s simplicity: strip away the advanced electronics and feature enhancements made over the past two or three decades, and all routers really boil down to a few basic parts. A universal motor points downward and is held in a base that typically has a couple of handles to help you steer it over a workpiece. A sharp bit attached to the end of the motor’s spindle does the cutting work.

Routers have two styles of bases. The “fixed” base has a large collar, a threaded rod or other height adjustment feature that enables you to move the motor up or down inside the base to change the cutting depth of the bit. Once you set and lock the motor where you want it, the base remains otherwise “fixed.”

“Plunge” bases turn that relationship on its ear: the motor clamps into a top housing on the base, and the housing can be raised or lowered on two spring-loaded metal posts to adjust the cutting depth — here, the motor is “fixed,” but the base plunges it to different depths. You control cutting depth using an adjustable rod that makes contact with a stepped and swiveling turret. Each click of the turret changes the cutting depth incrementally by about 1/8″, and those changes can be read off of a depth scale behind the rod.

Manufacturers still produce a few dedicated plunge routers where the motor and base are integral. They were once commonplace, but most routers these days are modular: a removable motor pack fits both fixed and plunge bases to maximize versatility.

Collets: the Business End

The bottom end of the motor’s spindle that holds the cutting bit is tapered on the inside and threaded on the outside. A slotted, tapered collet fits into it and grips the shanks of router bits around their circumference like a vise. A nut surrounds the collet and threads onto the spindle to tighten bits into place. Collets are sized to accept either 1/2″- or 1/4″-dia. shank router bits. Mid-size and larger routers often include both collet sizes.

Other Helpful Features

Today’s routers are chockfull of good features that give them the edge over predecessor machines made 20 or more years ago. Almost all new routers have variable speed — and you’ll need to dial the speed down to operate large-diameter bits safely. Many motors have “soft start” that ramps up power to prevent jackrabbit starts that can jerk the tool in hand. Top quality routers also feature electronic feedback circuitry, which keeps the bit spinning at a consistent speed, regardless of the load being applied to the bit.

Some routers have spindle locks, so you can change bits with one wrench instead of two. Dust collection capabilities have improved, too, thanks to plastic shrouds that fasten or clip inside the base to corral the debris created by the bit; a port on the shroud connects to a vacuum hose. A few manufacturers even outfit their routers with LED lights that shine down into the bit area to help you see what you’re cutting — it’s a wonderful feature to have.

Sub-bases & Guide Bushings

Below the metal router base, there’s a smooth plate called a sub-base that fastens to it with screws. Router bases and their sub-bases will either have a round footprint or a combination of round and flat edges. The goal here is that you can feed the sub-base along a straightedge or other guide surface consistently. The sub-base’s smooth face also protects workpieces from marring during routing.

An indispensable feature of many sub-bases is that their center cutout is sized to accept threaded metal guide bushings, with 1-3/16″-dia. bushings being the industry norm. Guide bushings (also often called template guides, rub collars or guide collars) have a protruding bushing sized in a range of diameters from 5/16″ O.D. upwards to 1″ or more. They’re invaluable for all sorts of template work and even necessary for use with many dovetailing and mortising jigs.

Some larger-diameter bits won’t fit the openings of sub-bases designed for guide bushings, so an optional subbase with a larger bit cutout may be included with the router, too.

Routers by Size

Routers subdivide into three principal machine sizes: full-size, mid-size and a category that goes by several names, depending on the manufacturer — “compact,” “palm” or “trim.” The delineation of full, mid or compact routers mostly has to do with the peak horsepower their motors will produce, but each size also has proportional and functional characteristics worth considering, too.

– Full-size routers are the largest and most powerful options you can buy. They have either 3 or 3-1/4 hp motors, and they require larger plunge or fixed bases to hold the hefty motor packs. (Incidentally, here’s where you can still find the remaining new “dedicated” plunge router models.)

A full-size router can accept any router bit made — from tiny roundovers to the largest panel-raising cutter — and its motor delivers enough power to drive all of them with ease. But, the counterpoint to “fullsize” is that the weight and bulkier proportions of these routers can make them hard to maneuver by hand over small workpieces or along narrow edges. Oftentimes, routing successfully with a router held in hand requires some finesse. In these situations, a full-size machine weighing up to 15 pounds can make nimble control much more difficult.

– Mid-size routers are the industry’s answer to a “happy medium” among the routing family. Rated at 1-1/2 to 2-1/4 hp, with proportionally smaller bases than their bigger cousins and tipping the scales at several pounds lighter, midsize routers still pack enough punch to spin all but the biggest cutters. They can be outfitted with both 1/4″- and 1/2″-dia. collets, so you aren’t limited by the sizes of router bit shanks you can use.

There was a period of time in the early 2000s when the industry put substantial R&D into developing combination kits that included both fixed-base and plunge-base options with an interchangeable motor pack. That trend caught on like wildfire, and its afterglow continues today. “Combo” kits offer well engineered fixed and plunge bases that will serve a broad spectrum of routing applications well, for a price that won’t break the bank. Premium mid-size models also include user-friendly features like soft start and feedback circuitry. This “family sedan” of the router market offers solid value to both novices and pros alike.

– Compact routers took a big step forward for woodworking in 2005 when Bosch brought its Colt Palm Router to market. Prior to that time, when woodworkers wanted the trimming or profiling capabilities of a router small enough to be used one-handed, the only real option was a laminate trimmer — a countertop fabricator’s tool. While these early “trim” routers were up to task for light-duty edge profiling work, their sub-1 hp motor capacity was limiting. Laminate trimmers also lacked plunge bases, because fabricators could simply tip the tool down into the work to punch through plastic laminate and start a cut. Mortising or controlled depth-cutting weren’t necessary tasks.

Bosch raised the bar for compact routers with the Colt by boosting its motor capacity to 1 peak hp, which opened the door to more woodworking applications and router bit options. De-WALT and PORTER-CABLE upped the ante even further around 2010 by introducing compact routers with both plunge and fixed bases. From that point, the race was on for other manufacturers to bring their own versions of more powerful, capable “tiny” routers to market. And that sea change has meant that today’s compact routers typically have around 1-1/4 peak hp. You can still buy a few traditional laminate trimmers, but most models have gone the way of the dinosaurs in favor of the gutsier and more versatile “next generation” compacts.

Compact routers have even blurred the lines between what must be done with a mid-size machine versus the tinier tool. While compact routers are limited to 1/4″-shank bits, I use them often for cutting mortises and for general template work. Their easy handling and ample power makes these machines surprisingly useful and unintimidating.

They won’t replace a mid-size router by any means, but a compact router is really handy to have as an option.

Configurations

I’ve already alluded to using a router “in hand.” When workpieces are large enough to provide a stable platform under the tool — think wide boards, panels or sheet materials — or when you’re bringing the tool to an assembly like a cabinet carcass or a chest, holding the router by its handles may be your better or only practical option. Many dovetail jigs also require a router to be fed over a template on top of the jig. But, when you’re routing particularly small or narrow workpieces where the tool’s size becomes a hindrance, a second option is to invert the router and mount it underneath a router table instead. This way, you can feed the workpiece across the table and past the bit without having the router’s weight and proportions working against you. Router tables also have the added benefit of a movable fence that can be set and locked to make straight cuts, like grooves, in from the edge of a workpiece. Fences with faces that open and close also allow you to present just a portion of a router bit’s cutting profile to the workpiece at a time, for cleaner and safer cutting passes. A miter slot in the table expands its capabilities even further for tasks such as dadoing and angled cuts. Or, attach a simple jig to your miter gauge, and a table-mounted router will cut box joints with ease.

Some router bases, particularly on mid-size machines, are designed with “through-the-base” depth setting adjustment: when they’re inverted and mounted under a router table, you can raise or lower the cutter by fitting a wrench through the router base and adjusting it from above. Here’s where two base mid-size combo kits are really handy: mount the fixed base to your router table and leave it there. Move the motor to the plunge base for handheld situations.

Still, I think the ideal choice for a router table is a full-size motor pack, because its weight is a non-issue in the table configuration, and a 3- or 3-1/4 hp motor offers plentiful power for any routing operation that comes your way. My full-size router motor has hung under a router table its entire life, handling everything from delicate edge trimming to precision dovetailing to rigorous and demanding panel-raising.

Top 10 Bit Styles

Even a modest collection of carbide-tipped bits can help your router perform a wide range of tasks. These 10 styles find their way into many of our magazine’s projects. If your router accepts 1/2″-shank bits, choose this size for larger cutters, when possible.

Earning Its Keep

Now that you know the sizes of routers and the two ways they can be configured for use, let’s take a quick walk through the various operations that will make a router an invaluable addition to your tool arsenal.

– Edge Profiling: Flat, square edges may be a requirement for many assemblies, but they can be awful dull to look at. A router, equipped with various edge-profiling bits, can add shape and shadow lines to tabletops, shelving, plaques and other flat or curved edges. Roundovers, coves or chamfers also help to “soften” edge and end grain so surfaces are more pleasant to touch and less likely to splinter, chip or cause injury. In days of yore, various molding planes handled profiling duties, but routers and bits took their place as a power tool alternative. Routing edge profiles is typically how new users gain confidence with the tool, and it’s a routine operation for experienced woodworkers, too.

– Joinery: There aren’t many woodworking joints that fall outside of a router’s wheelhouse, if you own the right bits. Chuck a straight or spiral bit into the tool, and it will mill dadoes, grooves, spline slots, laps, mortises and even the tenons to fit into them. A rabbeting bit will tackle rabbets, of course, plus stub tenons for cabinet doors. Most rabbeting bits come with several sizes of pilot bearings to make changing the proportions of rabbet cuts easy.

Add a dovetailing bit and an adjustable or fixed-template dovetailing jig to your shop, and you’re set to make half-blind or through dovetails for drawers or other boxes. Guide the router against a straightedge, instead, and it will make sliding dovetail joints, too.

Ever wish you could make biscuit joints but don’t want to spend the money on the power tool to do it? Well, just buy a slot-cutting bit for a fraction of the price of a biscuit joiner and you can cut them on your router table instead. This one tool can do the joinery work of a table saw, dado blade, shaper, biscuit jointer and hollow-chisel mortiser. No other single power tool can beat this range of joinery applications.

– Template Routing: Templates and woodworking go together like a hand in a glove. We use them to produce matching part shapes and to follow tricky inside cutouts. Templates control the proportions of all manner of shallow mortises for hinges, inlays and locks. Letter templates enable you to rout professional-looking signage, too. You can do all of these tasks with templates you buy or make from scrap, used in tandem with a piloted flush-trim or pattern bit or with a straight bit nested inside a guide bushing. I’ve accumulated dozens of templates for various projects, and every one is made for a router.

– Surfacing, Jointing: Projects incorporating slabs are red-hot these days if you follow social media trends, but those mammoth chunks of lumber are impossible for most of us to flatten in our surface planers. Here’s how to save the day: chuck a planing bit in a mid- or fullsize router and build a sled to ride over the slab. It’s a nifty workaround to using a big planer or drum sander.

Maybe you don’t own a stationary jointer, or you’re faced with a plank that’s too large to feed safely over the jointer you do have. No problem: run your router and a long straight bit against a clamped straightedge instead, to flatten those edges.

I often use a short mortising or dish-carving bit in my compact router to trim protruding plugs, dovetails and box joints flush. It works as slick as a hand plane.

– Cutting, boring: A router, straight or spiral bit and a straightedge can make quick work of trimming large panels or plywood to size cleanly. Circles and ellipses are easy to cut, too, with a router mounted to a trammel or ellipse/circle jig.

You can even bore rows of shelf-pin holes for cabinetry or dowel joints with a plunge router, template and guide bushing — and a sharp router bit will cut them more cleanly than a drill and twist bit often will.

– Door-making: Once upon a time, the best tool for raising panels and milling cope-and-stick joints for cabinet or passage doors was a shaper. Now, router tables are a safe and suitable “Plan B” for doormaking. You can buy horizontal- or vertical-style panel-raising bits in all the popular door styles, plus matched cope-and-stick bits to connect the rails and stiles. Here’s where a full-size motor in your router table really delivers for this heavy-duty application.

Cordless Compact Routers are on the Rise

The options for cordless tools are burgeoning these days, as manufacturers continue to pursue battery- powered alternatives for every benchtop, handheld and yard-and-garden power tool. You may know that Bosch, Makita, RIDGID and RYOBI now offer cordless compact routers among their 12- or 18-volt product lines, and more choices are probably on the horizon. But, do you need to “cut the cord” for a router? If you’re already invested in a battery platform, adding a cordless model might make sense, especially if electric outlets are scarce. Plus, the cord will never be in your way again. However, a big battery can make the router feel top-heavy, and if you have to buy the router, batteries and charger, you’ll spend significantly more than for a corded router that will never need charging — or eventually, new batteries.

Choosing Router Bits

While you may only spend two to three hundred dollars on a router that will last for decades, that’s not where routing gets expensive. The real cost outlay over time is in router bits. Prices for quality carbide-tipped bits start at around $10 to $15 for the simplest options. From there, price tags climb steadily to $150 or more for packaged sets, specialty bits and door-making kits. Stocking up ain’t cheap, but you can’t rout without the cutters.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need drawers full of bits to get most projects done. Instead, buy bits only as you need them, considering the “Top Ten” styles I suggest. Skip the big “bargain” collections, because they usually contain a few oddball bits you’ll never use anyway. Invest in 1/4″-, 3/8″- and 1/2″ straight or spiral bits, roundovers and coves. A single 45° chamfer bit, a rabbeting bit with various sizes of bearings and at least one flush-trim and pattern bit are essential, too. Quality bits last a long time, and choosing carefully will help you explore your router’s rich potential affordably.

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To build it, you’ll need a piece of 1/4″-thick stock that’s at least 20″ long. Choose something from your scrap bin with an attractive and bold grain pattern for best effect — the holder’s accordion- folded miter joints will accentuate the continuous grain. Rip the stock to 3-1/2″-wide, and nip 5/8″ off the corners of one end at 45° to form a starting point for routing. Sand the workpiece smooth.

Making the Routing Jig

Notice in the Drawings and photos that the routing jig mounts to your router table’s miter gauge, for feeding the taco holder workpiece through each routing pass. Cut the jig’s base, fence and miter gauge attachment to size from scrap material; 1/2″ MDF makes an excellent choice for the base. Mark one long edge of the base 2-1/2″ from its end: this reference mark serves as an alignment aid to center the tip of a 90°V-groove bit (item 90880 at rockler.com) you’ll need for routing the joints.

To assemble the jig, install the V-groove bit in your router table and raise it until the tip is flush to the table’s surface. Butt the unmarked long edge of the base against your miter gauge and adjust the base so the reference mark aligns with the bit’s tip. Now carefully set and lock your router table fence squarely against the end of the jig base. Fasten the jig’s miter gauge attachment to your miter gauge’s fence with screws, and glue its bottom edge to the top face of the jig base. Then glue the jig’s fence to the base, flush against the miter gauge attachment.

When the glue dries, make a reference mark on the end of the jig fence (adjacent to the router table fence), 3/4″ back from its front edge. Draw a vertical mark on the router table fence as well to indicate where the bit’s tip is during the routing process.

The last step to prep the jig for use is to rout a slot across the jig’s base and into its fence (see Drawings). Stop cutting when the two fence marks line up. Make this slot in several passes, raising the bit a little on each pass until the bit’s tip is precisely 1/4″ above the base.

Routing the Miters

It takes seven routing passes to form the six “V” segments and two ends of this holder. The cuts must also alternate from top face to bottom face in order to create the accordion folds.

You’ll need to insert a 1″-wide spacer to offset the endmost cuts for the 1-1/2″-wide dogeared pieces, but the intermediate five miter cuts don’t require the spacer — they form the 2-1/2″-wide “V” segments. Test your setup on scrap first, to be sure the jig and bit are dialed in accurately.

Once you’ve routed the holder segments, trim the corners off the second end, and glue the pieces together. Then topcoat the project with satin poly for a durable, food-safe finish. It’s taco time!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Shelf Life

Manufacturers typically suggest a shelf life of three years for most finishes, assuming they are stored correctly. That includes both aerosol and regular cans of water-based clears, paint, oil-based varnish, polyurethane, Danish oil, gel urethane, wiping varnish, lacquer and even two-part conversion varnish, provided the reactive agent is stored separately. In reality, you can often use much older material, but this is still a good “use by” guideline. It helps to write the date of purchase on cans that you buy to keep track of their age.

Shellac is different in that it depends on the cut. A five pound cut (very thick) will last three years, but what you probably use, a two pound cut or thinner, will only last about six months, even if unopened. The exception is Zinsser® SealCoat, made from a long shelf life shellac resin that will last five years.

“Pre-cat” lacquer, which is modified conversion varnish with the reactant already added, will have a much shorter shelf life, depending on the type and amount of reactant that was added. Follow the manufacturer’s suggestions, but I’ve seen “pre-cat” lacquers with shelf lives as short as six weeks and as long as a year.

There are two notable exceptions. Clear nitrocellulose lacquer will usually be fine even after a decade or two, provided the can is airtight. Ditto for clear gloss oil varnish, though not for satin or tinted varnish.

Cyanoacrylate, a moisture initiated adhesive that some folks use as a finish, sealer or pore filler, will be good for at least one year if stored unopened in the refrigerator, but don’t freeze it. Once open, store it dry and at room temperature, but don’t wipe the tip or touch the tip to the work, either of which can cause clogging. It’s usually good as long as it is still liquid.

Store for Longevity

Make sure water-based paint and clear finish are well sealed in an airtight container, and store in a cool, dry place in the shop. It’s best to press can lids on with pressure around the rim. Hitting the center of a lid can warp it so it won’t seal properly. For screw-on lids, clean the lid and spout with the finish solvent, then wipe a bit of Vaseline® on the threads, or drape the spout with a sheet of waxed paper, parchment or plastic wrap so the lid doesn’t get glued on.

Oil-based finishes, like varnish, polyurethane, wiping varnish and gel urethane, will crust and even completely cure if there is air (oxygen) in the headroom, which is the area between the lid and the top of the finish. The more you use, the more headroom. Eliminate the headroom by adding marbles or stones to raise the liquid level, creating a barrier between air and finish with plastic or an isolating liquid, or replacing the oxygen with inert gas before sealing the lid.

Testing Old Finish

To test your old finish for viability, first, look at it. If it was meant to be a liquid and is now thick, crusted or separated, it’s best to discard it. Ditto for anything moldy or with a different than normal odor.

Paint, for instance, will separate into what looks like a substantial layer of clear water and a mess of pigment and resin below that looks a bit like cottage cheese. That’s a good sign it’s past its prime. Shellac deteriorates very quickly, so I’d test any shellac more than six months old. Lacquer, as usual, is an exception. Even lacquer that has gotten thicker can usually be saved by simply adding more lacquer thinner.

When in doubt, test it. Spread a drop or two onto a piece of glass or laminate. See if it cures solid in the time it is supposed to, and press a thumbnail into the cured finish to ensure it is solidifying sufficiently. It’s even better if you can do a comparison test: a drop of the finish in question next to a drop from a new can of the same material. If it’s viable, the old should dry as fast and as hard as the new. Finishes vary, but a good rule of thumb is that a normal coat of shellac or lacquer should dry to the touch in well under an hour, latex paint in two hours, and oil-based varnish overnight.

4 Ways to Remove the Headroom

“Headroom,” in finish storage, is the area between the lid and the top of the finish. Oxygen is the enemy here: its presence will cause a crust to form on your oil-based finishes, eventually causing all of the contents to harden. As you use more finish from the container, you get more headroom where oxygen could do its dirty work. What’s a woodworker to do? Here are a few solutions.

Throw it Out

Throwing away finish is not as easy as tossing out wood scraps. Liquid finish is not safe for landfills, as the solvents in it can leach into the soil and contaminate the water table. In most cases, it’s also bad news for sewer systems.

That leaves two options. If the finish will still cure (is viable, but no longer needed) you can brush it ALL out onto cardboard or scrap wood. Once it is cured, it is inert and therefore landfill safe. Viable water-based paint can also be reused/recycled at places like Habitat for Humanity and some local recycling facilities. Check in your area to see if that’s an option.

The other option, and the only one for finish that will not cure, is to find a place locally that accepts old finish. Because the rules vary so much from area to area, you’re not likely to find reliable information on a national scale. My local transfer station (the former landfill), for instance, accepts both water- and oil-based paints. Bear in mind that, unlike latex paint, oil-based and solvent-based coatings are considered hazardous waste.

Check with the folks who collect your trash — they’ll often know how to legally dispose of coatings — or do a search online for “hazardous waste disposal” in your city or area. A search for my town brought up the county recycling center contact information as well as several companies who collect hazardous waste for a fee.

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Although I taught King Heiple (former head of orthopedics at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio) to turn, it was he, a few years later, who taught me to turn earrings. One of his favorite demonstrations was to place a mini lathe onto a large lathe such as a ONEWAY 2436 or Powermatic 3520b and turn one earring on each lathe — a graphic demonstration that you did not need a big lathe for the project but, if you only had a big lathe, that was fine, too. Yes, moving the honking big banjo was a hassle, but the turning process was the turning process!”

King’s showmanship aside, while you can turn this project on any lathe, it’s easier to do it on a small one, especially for your first go-round. The smaller spindle, along with light toolrests and banjo, make the work go easier and faster.

Earrings can be turned from a wide range of materials: wood, plastic, tagua (ivory nut), horn, bone and stone (soapstone and alabaster) are only the start of the list. Pen blanks are available in an astounding variety of materials, and their size makes a perfect starting blank.

Because of the small diameter of the project, plenty of speed is the order of the day. It is one of the few times I advise speeding up the lathe: 3,000 to 3,600 rpm is a good turning speed for miniature work. A small four-jaw scroll chuck is a nice convenience, but many pairs of earrings are easily made with centers and a faceplate, which is the method I demonstrate in this article.

Tools for Tiny Turnings

Many full-size tools work fine for initial sizing of the blank, but you will need some small ones designed for miniature work, too. Sets are readily available, a good example being the Crown 5-Piece Mini Turning Tool Set. If you like a do-it-yourself approach, however, you can make some useful miniature tools quite easily.

Because of the project’s small diameter and the lathe’s turbo speed, tools can be quite unsophisticated. I will show you three. The first is a small skew ground from a 1/4″-diameter round bar; the second is a pointed tool that is just three equally sized bevels on a 1/4″ round bar; and the last is a bevy of useful scrapers that do the bulk of the turning work.

Scrapers can be made from just about any halfway decent piece of metal: old high-speed drill bits, small screwdrivers and cement nails are readily obtainable and cheap, even if purchased new. At a moderately higher price, mscdirect.com sells ground and hardened 8″ long by 1/4″ round HSS bars (M2 High Speed Steel Round Tool Bit Blank) for less than $7 each. You could grind them in half and make two miniature tools. You can also use those bars, or a 1/4″ HSS twist drill bit, to make the pointed tool.

Making the Tools

Round Skew

For this tool, simply take a 1/4″ high-speed steel bar or a drill bit and grind two bevels to make a skewed edge. It is like an oval skew, only better, and it’s great for cutting very small beads or for planing surfaces.

Pointed Tool

The pointed tool is made from a 1/4″-diameter bar. Turn a small handle and drill a 1/4″ hole into its end. If using a twist drill bit as your starting point, epoxy the twist drill end into the handle and use the shank for the tool point. Grind three equally spaced flats on it to create three edges. Some turners grind the point to a slight radius, while others bring it to a sharp point. In use, it can be made to work like a skew or a scraper.

Scrapers

Scrapers can be made from any piece of metal; it doesn’t even have to be very hard for the diameters and speeds of miniature turning. Some grinding will make scrapers for small coves, holes and internal hollowing. I’ve shown (clockwise from left) a curved scraper made from a cement nail, an old screwdriver ground to a half-circle, two dental picks (great tools for internal hollowing), a chisel ground to a dome scraper and an old plow plane iron ground to cut a small groove.

Findings, Pliers

Findings are the metal hardware that attach turned earrings to the wearer’s ears. They take many forms. Some mechanically clip to the earlobe, while findings for pierced ears can be a simple hook or a hasp that locks like a safety pin. They come in solid gold and silver or plated with these metals. There are also stainless steel and various hypoallergenic alloys. Suffice it to say that you get what you pay for, but you can obtain very nice examples inexpensively. I chose sterling silver. Whatever metal you choose, you will need some end eye pins of the same material to connect the turning to whatever ear attachment device you choose.

Some small jewelers’ pliers are nice to have. While any cutting pliers can be used to cut end eye pins to length, some bending pliers for opening and closing the end eye for attachment to the hook will make things go quicker with a better result.

Turning the Earrings

To get started with your first pair, turn a short blank of your material to a diameter a bit larger than 1/2″, turn a short 3/8″ tenon on one end, and attach to a piece of wood on your faceplate as seen in the photos.

Some earring shapes that work well are pendants of any shape, one to three small tubes of varying length, and one or more small beads strung on an eye pin. You want to be very conscious of diameter and weight, the beginner’s mistake being too big and too heavy.

Give earrings or any other type of miniature turning a go. The tools are not expensive, the space needed is minimal, and the paybacks from the recipient are huge.

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Almost 25 years old, the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild is expected to reach a total of 60,000 toy donations by year’s end — thanks in part to events like “Toy Build Day” held at the local Rockler Woodworking and Hardware store.

The Guild began in 1994, and that’s also when members began building toys and donating them to local children’s hospitals. With 515 toys donated the first year, the volume quickly grew to average about 1,900 toys per year. As membership and enthusiasm grew, the volume increased to more than 5,000 toys donated in 2016. In June of 2017, the Guild delivered its 50,000th toy.

Until recently, the Guild was supplying toys to just three hospitals in the area, but with increased donations they have expanded the program to include five different hospital facilities and “Toys for Tots®” in the St. Louis area.

Enthusiasm for the program is driven by several long-time members that have had children and grandchildren hospitalized for extended periods of time. They have personally seen the need to keep young minds occupied by donating over 1,000 items each for the last several years.

Items donated include an assortment of puzzles, toys, kits to be glued and assembled, dolls, butterflies, cars, trucks, hummingbirds and just about anything the imagination can dream up. “Treasure boxes” shaped like hearts, birds, or any other desired shape are a big hit. Lids are held on with an axle peg and rotate to reveal the secret storage area inside.

Some of the items that have been built include jigsaw puzzles with extra-large pieces and loose fits for children with special needs. Fishing poles with magnetic bobbers allow children to catch fish with magnets in their nose.

Almost all items are unfinished so the children can use their imagination, paints, stickers and markers to bring the items to life. This is not only fun, but an important part of many children’s therapy. Children unable to leave the hospital and shop for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, birthday or holiday presents will often give items they’ve decorated to a loved one as a gift.

With about 230 members, the guild established a goal of 30% participation in the toy program in any one year. Because there are many new members with limited shop equipment at home, the Guild has held toy building sessions at the guild workshop as well as at the Rockler store. New members get instruction on saws, sanders and hands-on experience making simple toys for donation to the program. A few “kits” are also provided at the meetings that contain wood and patterns for members to fabricate and return finished toys at the next meeting.

Donations also come from Guild sponsors and employees, as well as others. Plus, the Guild has a booth set up at the annual Woodworking Show St. Louis where kids can build race cars and donate them to the program.

The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild’s donations aren’t just limited to toys: they’ve also partnered with Bring Me A Book St. Louis to help them reach a goal of bringing hardback quality books to under-resourced children to read aloud at home and school. Bring Me a Book provides bookcases and books to pre-kindergarten through first grade classrooms, as well as books for the children to take home and keep. The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild is building small bookcases for the children to store those books in at home. They build and finish about 30 small bookcases at a time to accommodate every child in a classroom.

Thirty people is also the estimated attendance for the first Toy Build Day at the St. Louis Rockler store. Some were there to observe and to learn, both about the Guild and about woodworking and charitable opportunities.

Another Toy Build Day event is scheduled to be held at the St. Louis Rockler Store on January 12, 2019. Further information can be obtained from the store online or by calling 314-209-1116.

Further information about the St. Louis Woodworking Guild, including galleries of members’ work, a library and additional resources, is at www.slwg.org.

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The games that stand out for me the most were mancala — a game we don’t really know the ancient rules for but seemed to work out just fine — and the ever-classic cribbage. Our cribbage board was made by hand, the holes a bit askew and the texture of the wood worn smooth and aged from years of use.

When I was given the challenge to design a reversible hardwood gameboard for Woodworker’s Journal, it was immediately clear that there was no better pairing than mancala and cribbage: they work both in scale and style of play. My gameboard features a slide-out tray that stores cards and cribbage pegs on one end and mancala playing pieces on the other. Whichever gameboard you have facing up presents the correct face of the tray for the playing pieces you need. Magnets keep the tray from sliding out accidentally and prevent spilling when it’s carried.

You’ll need a couple of templates to build this project. While cribbage drilling jigs and templates are widely available (I used Rockler’s three-player small drilling jig), mancala routing templates and the tray template I’ve created for this gameboard are not. You can download and print out free full-size PDF patterns for my jig templates online. You’ll also need a 1-1/2″-dia. Forstner bit, a drill press with a fence, a jigsaw and a spindle sander.

Start by cutting a few pieces of scrap plywood to 8-1/2″ x 19-1/2″ and 7-3/4″ x 19-1/2″, plus some 1″ strips to hold the gameboard blanks in place as you rout them. Using spray adhesive, attach the printed patterns carefully to the plywood template blanks. Then, head over to your drill press to bore the mancala template’s 28 through holes.

This step requires a careful eye. I found that locating the drilling centerpoints with the drill press turned off and lowering the bit to the work surface helped me align each and every hole. Adjust the fence to drill all of the holes in four long rows. Once that’s done, grab your jigsaw and turn the overlapping holes into ovals, cleaning up the sawn edges on a spindle sander. Now drill holes through the tray template, including the 1/2″ holes for the magnets you’ll use to keep the tray closed in the gameboard case.

Cut strips to wrap around one face of each template and attach them with brads. Sand the paper facings off of both jigs, and you’re ready for the fun part!

Choosing the Project’s Hardwood

Any stable hardwood will work well for the playing surfaces and tray. I chose zebrawood and Peruvian walnut as they are not woods I get to play with very often.

Small projects like this are also nice opportunities to learn the working properties of unfamiliar woods, so you are better informed if you decide to use them for much larger and more costly furniture builds later on.

Here’s something else to keep in mind: the potential for warping is a real concern with this little dovetailed sliding tray. To help mitigate this, I used 1/2″-thick stock and laminated the blanks with the grain flipped. That should help keep the tray flat over time.

Time for Template-routing!

I started with a piece of scrap plywood in one of my jigs to dial in the correct depth setting and to get a better sense for how this big bit was going to work in my router. I’m glad I did, and I recommend that you do the same. Take 1/8″ passes to remove the material in your practice piece. I used the depth-setting turret and stop rod on my plunge router to make sure I wouldn’t rout too deeply Then, once you are comfortable, switch to your actual workpieces. On the tray, rout the two cribbage recesses into one face. Then flip it over and turn it around to rout the single recess for the mancala playing pieces in the opposite face. Rout the mancala gameboard now, too.

Set those aside and grab your cribbage board blank; it’s time to drill a bunch of holes! Follow the directions for the jig and you should have a finished cribbage board in a matter of minutes.

Dovetailing the Sides, Tray

Prepare a 3/4″ x 1″ blank that’s 36″ long, then head to the router table for some dovetailing. Install a 1/2″-wide dovetail bit, and adjust the router table’s fence to center the bit on the 1″ face of the workpiece. Raise the bit to 3/8″, and make sure the fence is 3/4″ back from the outside edge of the bit. Install featherboards both to the router table’s fence and alongside the bit on the table to make sure this long, narrow “stick” remains under control when you mill the dovetail socket. After that’s routed, crosscut the two side pieces to final length.

Now adjust your router table fence to mill a dovetail pin along each side of the tray. You want a tight joint that doesn’t bind as you slide the tray in and out. Set up these cuts with the bit buried partially in the fence. Never rout with the wood trapped in between the bit and the fence, or the back of the bit can grab the wood and pull it through violently.

The last step before gluing the parts together is to grab your drill and a 1/2″ brad-point drill bit and drill holes for the magnets. I used the tray jig to drill 1/8″-deep holes into the cribbage supplies side of the tray. Two metal dowel points inserted in these holes helped me locate matching holes in the back of the cribbage board — just line up the cribbage board over the tray with the sides in place, and squeeze the parts together to prick it with centerpoints for drilling. Glue the magnets into their holes, making sure their polarities will attract.

Assembly and Finishing Up

You’re ready for final assembly! Slip the sides onto the tray so it acts as a spacer, then glue the sides to the cribbage board. When the glue tacks up, remove the tray and glue on the mancala board. I found this was an easy method to keep the parts from slipping around.

When the glue dries, finish-sand the case and tray and wipe on a few coats of Danish oil. Waxing the dovetails will help the tray slide in and out more smoothly. Now you have an heirloom gameboard.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Click Here to Download the Full-Size Templates.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Small Cribbage Board Templates, 3-Player, Curved Track (1) #51133
Small Deluxe Cribbage Pegs, 3-Player Set (1) #59924
Rockler Dish Carving Router Bit – 1/2″ Shank (1) #43495
Rockler Dovetail Router Bit – 1/2″ Shank (1) #91078
Rare Earth Magnets, 1/2″ x 1/8″, 10-Pack (1) #30810

The post PROJECT: Reversible Gameboard appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The first step is to glue up a panel to create your peel. We used 1/2″-thick walnut and curly maple stock, but you can utilize scraps of your own choosing — maybe some small, interesting pieces or leftovers from other projects that are lying around your shop. Just remember not to make your blank too thick to begin with: the peel needs to be skinny enough to fit under your pizza.

Rip strips from your stock and arrange them in an attractive pattern, then glue them up and wait for the glue to cure. Our blank measured 1/2″ x 14″ x 24″. When you’re ready to proceed, scrape off the dried glue and run the panel through a sander or a planer to flatten it. If you use a drum sander like we did, lower the drum no more than 1/64″ with each pass.

Now you’re ready to cut the shape for your peel. Our full-size pattern offers a fairly traditional shape — but you could create your own pattern and let your imagination run wild. Once you’ve got your pattern ready, trace around it to transfer the lines of the pattern onto your panel blank. On the walnut blank we used, chalk or a “chalk marker” shows up better than a normal pencil line.

On your band saw, cut just outside those lines to form the shape of the pattern. Then sand right up to the line to achieve the final shape of your pizza peel. A spindle sander really helps here!

You’ll notice that the skinny handle that emerges as a result of these cuts isn’t too comfortable to hold. The remedy for that is to laminate another 1/2″ piece of wood on top of the handle portion of your peel — we used some curly maple. Clamp your lamination in place and, once the glue cures, drill a hanging hole and refine the shape with a drawknife, spokeshave or sandpaper.

Taper Edge with Sanding Sled

Your peel’s looking pretty good at this point — you can even use the flat portion as a cutting board when you’re ready to slice your pizza. However, you don’t want the front edge to be flat: it needs to be tapered in order to slide under your pizza. You can create this taper with a hand plane, belt sander or random orbit sander. In our case, we went back to the drum sander, creating a sled to hold the peel at the proper angle for creating a nice, even taper.

To make the sled, you’ll need to first determine the height you want to elevate the front edge (in our case, it was almost the maximum height that would fit through the sander). Attach a riser block to lift and support the entire front edge, a couple of backer blocks to hold the back edges secure, and a screw and washer through the handle to prevent it from tilting or lifting when the sander presses down on the front edge.

After securely mounting the peel on the sanding sled, run it through the drum sander, making several passes and lowering the sander a little bit with each pass. Stop when the front edge is still roughly 1/8″-thick.

Download the Pizza Peel Template Here.

The post PROJECT: Pizza Peel Plan appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

You won’t need much wood for this project — which, it should go without saying, makes a great gift idea. Glue up your scraps to make a blank, or take advantage of the opportunity to purchase an inexpensive turning blank and try a material new to you. We recommend that the blank you choose can produce 1″ minimum diameter finished size — but the length and the shape are up to your imagination and sense of style.

You’ll find the actual slicing blade, plus a 5/16″ threaded insert, available as the Pizza Cutter Turning Kit at www.rockler.com (item 34913 for chrome finish; item 55423 for pewter). You’ll also need a threaded mandrel with a 1″ shoulder and 5/16-18 threads (item 43469, also available at rockler.com).

Your first step for the pizza cutter handle blank is to drill a 1/2″ hole into one end. Mark the center of your blank to determine the location of this hole, and bore the hole using either a drill press or a handheld drill.

If you have a Jacobs chuck for your lathe, put it in the headstock. If you don’t have one, go ahead and start turning the handle between centers. If using a Jacobs chuck, screw the threaded insert that came with your Pizza Cutter Kit into the hole you just drilled now, using an Allen wrench. A few drops of CA glue will help the insert stay put for the short and long term. (And, if you’re using acrylics for your handle blank, heating the threaded insert first will make for easier installation.)

Next, you’ll want to mount the threaded mandrel onto your lathe, using a Jacobs chuck (about a $60 accessory). Mount the blank onto the mandrel, and move the tailstock over to make contact with the handle blank. You’ll need to make sure your blank can spin clear of the tool-rest.

Now it’s time for turning your pizza cutter handle to your desired shape. This is an opportunity for creativity, as you can choose a shape that’s attractive to you and feels comfortable in your hand. Stop turning every so often and check the “feel” of your handle to see if it’s what you want. You could also add some decorative elements, such as lines cut into your handle with a parting tool.

Since the mandrel’s 1″ shoulder matches the diameter of your hardware, you have a visual guide to know when the blank is turned down to the size you need to correctly match your handle to the hardware.

At the point when your blank is a size, shape and feel you like, stop turning and start sanding. Sand through the grits, up to at least 220-grit.

You can also apply finish on the lathe. Wipe-on shellac would be one option, as would a CA glue with accelerator.

Your final step in creating your pizza cutter is to use the threaded portion attached to the blade and spin it into the grooves of the threaded insert mounted into your blank. (Insert it now if you didn’t earlier.) Be careful when assembling the parts — that 4″ pizza slicing blade is sharp!

You now have an attractive accessory for your pizza — any way you slice it.

Looking for a place to store your pizza cutters? We have a great plan for a pizza cutter block too!

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