But recently I have had a change of heart when it comes to mixing species, especially when those various pieces create an interesting geometric design. I think this table is a good example of exactly that. The chevron (not herringbone!) design is interesting to look at but not overpowering. I used six different wood species, but of course that is a completely subjective decision; you could go with more or less.

The table is easy to build and quite sturdy. As a dad with little kids, sturdy is very important to me. This table will need to withstand some rough-and-tumble times!

Starting Out

The core of the tabletop is two pieces of 3/4″ plywood. Cut the pieces to size, as shown in the Material List. You’ll notice that one of the pieces is 1/2″ longer than the other — that’s intentional. With the two pieces cut, form the radius on the corners of Top #1, the shorter piece.

I’ve found that getting exactly symmetrical radii on corners is very easy to do with a corner radius routing template. I use the template to mark the shape, rough-cut it with a jigsaw or band saw and then step over to the router table. Using a flush-trim bit with the bearing at the top end of the flutes, I completed the shapes of all four corners. Keep the bit in the router table — you’ll use it again shortly.

Go ahead and grab the second top and gather up a glue bottle, a couple of clamps and some #8 x 1-1/4″ screws. Apply a generous coating of glue to the surface of the top you just shaped, then place it on top of the second top. Position it so there is a 1/4″ of plywood extending on each end of the glue-up. You’ll notice that the tops will easily move around as the upper panel is “floating” on the glue layer. Once the panels are correctly aligned, clamp them together to hold them in place. Now screw the panels together and allow the glue to tack-up solidly. Roughcut the corners of the second top at the band saw. The final step on the tabletop for now is going back to the router table and flush-trimming Top #2 to match its mate. Sand the routed edges smooth, and set the top aside.

Resawing

We purchased our chevron lumber already sized at 1/8″ thick. Another option is to resaw your pieces. Planing those pieces smooth and to a uniform thickness can be done, but that requires a sacrificial surface in your planer and a bit of caution

Prepping the Other Stock

While the tabletop has a plywood core, the cubby is solid lumber. That means you need to glue up its bottom panel before you make the cubby. Take the time to prep your stock and glue up a panel that’s slightly larger than the finished dimensions found in the Material List.

The choice of the cubby material is up to you. I chose cherry to match the lighter woods on the finished tabletop.

Next up is to machine the 24 chevron pieces. I sourced my stock for the chevrons from Rockler. Not only do they have 1/8″-thick stock for sale, but they have it in a very wide selection of species. For this table, I used maple, cherry, mahogany, bubinga, ebiara and wenge. (Yeah, I had never heard of ebiara either …)

There is absolutely no reason that you could not make your own 1/8″-thick pieces by resawing them from thicker stock. One advantage to doing so is that the matching pieces will be more uniform in color and figure. However,
a challenge will be how you get identical thicknesses and two smooth faces. Planing thin stock is possible on home-shop planers, but you usually need to add a smooth sacrificial platten to the planer, and then take very shallow passes. Even so, the thin pieces may get pulled up into the cutterhead and shatter. You’ll have to sort out your planing process if you do your own stock milling for these parts.

The most critical detail in this project is to make the chevrons exactly the same width and to form the angles precisely the same on each piece. I chose the table saw for this task and made sure I had a sharp blade in the machine. My chevrons were exactly 31⁄8″ wide, and I determined their angle to be 30 degrees. I cut them all at the same time and set them aside for a moment. I left the length of the chevrons overly long, as I would trim them after they were all glued in place on the tabletop. I grabbed the table core and moved it to my workbench, then drew a line down the center of its length. To assist with aligning the chevrons, I clamped a straightedge on that line.

Installing the Chevrons

It’s finally time to mount the first chevron. I used an unusual method to secure the first piece. First, I spread a coating of PVA wood glue in the center of the chevron, then squeezed a thick bead of CA glue around its perimeter. Next, I carefully placed the corner of the chevron at the end of the table core with its angled edge up against the straightedge. Pressing it down into place, I sprayed CA accelerator around the piece which locked it down. Then I added a clamp to further secure it to the core. I used this technique to speed up gluing and placing the remaining chevrons.

While I didn’t mention it earlier, I had already determined the order of the various species of wood on the top. Now I took one of each species and placed them next to the table core in the order in which they were to be mounted. I put a thick coat of glue on the table core, using a glue roller to spread it evenly. Then I placed each chevron on the top, sliding it gently back and forth to help the glue get tacky. I worked my way down one side of the tabletop layout line, installing half the chevron pattern.

To further secure the chevrons, I put a panel clamp down their middle. If you don’t have a panel clamp, you’ll need to make clamping cauls (the stiff ness of 2x material works well). The cauls should have a very slight crown along the length of them to apply pressure in the middle of the glue-up. Add another panel clamp next to the straightedge in the center of the panel. Check the end of each chevron to be certain that they are making good contact with the table core. If not, add clamps to solve that problem. If I noticed that a chevron was lifting in the middle, I used a heavy weight to push it down. Allow a couple of hours for the glue to cure.

When you are confident that the glue has set, use the same basic techniques to glue the remaining chevrons in place on the other side of the core’s layout line. Follow that up by adding four more pieces to the top. There will be two rather wide pieces that go on one end of the core — the end you started the chevrons on — and two smaller piece at the other end of the table. You’ll need to fit the small pieces in place. Glue and clamp them, and allow the glue to cure.

Tip-top Details

With all the chevron pieces now installed, scrape any glue squeeze-out off the surface, then turn the tabletop over and put it down on the workbench. At this point, I made a 1/4″-thick spacer to use as I trimmed the chevrons back a bit. I attached the spacer to the edge of the tabletop with self-adhesive sticky dots and used a hand saw to trim away the excess length of the chevrons. I did this on all four sides of the tabletop. The reason I left the small “ledge” is to make the next task much easier: wrapping the table core’s edges with edge banding. Before I attached the edge banding, I removed any glue blobs or irregularities on the edge of the core.

If you’ve ever attached long pieces of thin edge banding, you’ll know that one of the challenges it presents is that it can flop around and cause trouble. I solved that problem by putting a couple of clamps on the core that loosely kept the edge banding from moving around. I looped an overly long piece around the top and then began ironing it in place on one of the narrow ends. The small “ledge” formed by the overhanging chevrons helped me to align the edge banding perfectly as I worked around the end and down both sides. When I got to the far end, I overlapped the edge banding and sliced both pieces at once, creating a perfect fit. After the final bits were ironed in place, I was pleased with how well the operation had gone. The edge banding was a bit wider than the table core, so I trimmed off the excess and then used a file to put a slight bevel on the edge to prevent it from being pulled out easily or splintering.

With that done, it was time to flip the tabletop over and do some sanding on the chevrons. (You didn’t think you’d get away without sanding did you?) Despite my best effort, the chevrons were not perfectly level to one another. So I grabbed the biggest rotary sander that I own, put some 40-grit paper on it and leveled the top. Then I worked up through the grits to 320.

The smooth top was a benefit for the next step. Setting up a handheld router with a flush-trim bit, I removed the last bit of the chevron’s overhang. I took my time, feeding the router around the tabletop smoothly and steadily. When I was done, I hand-sanded the freshly routed edges, gently breaking their top corner and smoothing away any bit marks.

A Chubby Cubby

You are really making progress now! The cubby is a very basic bit of woodworking, as it is constructed with butt joints and dowels. Grab the panel you glued up earlier and sand it smooth, top and bottom.

At the table saw, cut it to the dimensions found in the Material List. Then cut two sides for the cubby, and you’re ready to put it together.

I had some 3/8″ walnut dowel left over from another project and thought it would add an interesting detail. When I clamped the sides to the cubby bottom, I drilled holes through the sides and, with a small bit of glue, drove the dowels through the sides into the ends of the bottom panel. I left it alone for the glue to cure. Once the joints were dry, I trimmed the dowels flush and then gave the cubby a complete sanding up through the grits.

To attach the cubby to the underside of the tabletop, I used long screws driven up through the width of the sides. The Screw Mounting Detail drawing shows a narrow hole bored into the edge of the side, and then two larger diameter holes on the top and bottom edges of the side.

The screws (#6 x 3″ trimheads) seat at the bottom of the 1/4″ opening and are driven up into the bottom face of the tabletop. You can also glue the cubby’s edges to the tabletop if you so desire, but I felt that the screws were more than strong enough.

I chose black steel legs from Rockler for this table. They screw onto the bottom of the tabletop and are very sturdy when installed. Drill pilot holes for the screws and install them with a drill/driver. Again, my choice of leg style is subjective. There are many different types of legs that would work with this tabletop. Should they be steel or wood, or even if you made the legs in your shop, that’s your choice and another way to customize this unique project.

I then applied a clear finish to this table. With all the different species of wood, it seemed a shame to change their natural color with stain. I applied a coat of sanding sealer, sanded it with fine grit paper and then finished with two top coats of polyurethane.

This project was fun to build, and I’ve found that it fits right into our home — kids and all.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

2″ x 25′ Pre-Glued Edge Banding, Cherry (1) #57121
16″ I-Semble Bent Flat Steel Legs with Adjustable Feet (1) #85560

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Building the Cabinet Sides

Mark the leg bottoms for short tapers on both inside edges of each leg. These tapers begin 3″ up from the bottom ends and reduce their thickness to 1″ square at the “feet.” Cut them to shape using a tapering jig, either at the table saw or band saw.

Set the legs aside for now so you can rip 2″-wide workpieces for the rails and stiles of the side frames from 3/4″ stock. Here again, I used affordable poplar. While you’re at it, prepare lengths of rail-and-stile stock for the doors, too. Make sure these door frame parts are harvested from straight-grained lumber and are jointed flat. They’re large doors, and you don’t want the frames distorting, or the doors won’t close properly.

Install the stile bit in your router table, and mill the sticking profile along the inside edges of side frame and door frame stiles. Then repeat this process on the inside edges of all the side frame and door rail stock. Make sure to test the cut on a piece of scrap material first, to verify the router bit’s setting for accuracy.

Crosscut the side frame workpieces to final length. Note that in the Material List, the part lengths for the stiles include an additional 3/4″ to account for the coped joinery on their ends. Crosscut the door frame parts 1/8″ longer than listed for now. This way, you can trim the parts to final lengths when the doors are fitted to the cabinet’s exact opening.

Replace the stile bit with the rail bit in the router table, and adjust it accordingly so its height matches the sticking profile you routed on the stiles and rails. Mill the cope profile into the ends of the side frame stiles. Leave the rail bit in the router table and set up as is, but don’t cope the ends of the door frame rails now. Set the door frame parts aside. You won’t need them again until much later in the building process.

Cut the side frame panels to size from 1/4″ plywood or MDF. Make sure they fit the panel grooves of the stile cutter snugly. Sand the legs and side frame parts up through the grits to 120. Go ahead and glue the rails, stiles and panels together to form two side frames. Don’t worry that the panels need to “float” in their frames. They can be glued in place, because they aren’t made of solid wood, so they won’t need to expand and contract seasonally.

When the glue cures, it’s time to install a side frame between each pair of legs. I used five 6 x 40 Festool Dominoes per side of each side frame for this task, but you also could use Rockler’s Beadlock loose tenons or even dowel pins, if you prefer. Whichever method you choose, lay out the position of the frames on the legs so they’re set 1/4″ back from the outer leg faces to create pleasing shadow lines here. Mill mortises or dowel holes for the joints in the legs and along the long edges of the side frames, and assemble the sides of the cabinet with glue and whichever loose tenon or dowel solution you’ve chosen. Clamp the side subassemblies to close the glue joints.

Assembling the Carcass

Next, rip and crosscut a pair of upper and lower front rails to size, and determine how you plan to install them in the cabinet. I used single 8 x 50 Dominoes for these joints and cut their mortises now. Position these parts so the top front rail will be flush with the tops of the legs and the bottom front rail aligns with the starting points of the taper cuts. These rails are also flush with the front faces of the legs.

The back panel of this cabinet is made of 3/4″ plywood. You could also use MDF, but I opted for plywood because it’s much lighter in weight. Cut a blank for the back panel to size. A nice way to decorate a flat panel that will be painted is to add some V-grooves to it, simulating a traditional slatted back.

This back panel’s 32″ width makes those “slat” cuts easy to space apart at 4″ intervals. I laid out the pattern with a pencil and straightedge, then plowed 1/4″-deep grooves with a V-groove bit in a handheld router. If you do the same, guide the edge of the router’s subbase against a clamped straightedge to ensure the slat lines are perfectly straight and parallel with one another.

After that, I milled Domino mortises into the side edges of the back panel and followed with corresponding mortise cuts in the back legs. Position these so the back panel will be flush with the back faces of the legs. I also bored several screw pockets into the back face of the back panel to reinforce the long edge joints.

Finish-sand the back panel and sand the front upper/lower rails to 120-grit. Then dry-assemble the side frames, back panel and front rails to check the fit of these cabinet carcass components. While it’s clamped up, determine the range of settings for the cabinet’s two adjustable shelves, and mark the stiles of the side frames with shelf pin holes. I decided on seven holes, spaced 2-1/2″ apart, beginning 8″ down from the top of the side frames. Drill the shelf pin holes. Now, go ahead and glue and clamp the cabinet carcass together, making sure the overall assembly remains square when the clamps are tightened up. If you’ve added pocket screws to the back panel as I have, drive those 1-1/4″-long screws into place, too.

Next, cut a bottom panel to size from MDF or plywood. There’s a solid-wood edging strip that still needs to be glued to its front edge. This strip will hide the edge plies of the plywood or, if you use MDF instead, it will make the front edge of the MDF more abrasion-resistant. Make up this strip and glue it to the bottom panel’s front edge. Then lay out and cut notches in the four corners of the bottom panel so it will wrap around the legs. On all four corners, these notches should be 1″ deep where the bottom will fit against the back panel or bottom front rail but 3/4″ where it abuts the side frames. Sand the bottom panel smooth.

The bottom panel rests on two long and two short cleats, fastened to the bottom side frame rails, the bottom front rail and the back panel. Rip and crosscut these cleats to size from 3/4″ stock, and install them 1/4″ up from the bottom edges of the cabinet’s side and front bottom rails. The rear cleat installs flush with the bottom of the back panel. Glue and brad-nail or screw them into place, as you prefer. Then fit the bottom panel inside the cabinet on top of its cleats. Drive 18-gauge 1-1/2″ brad nails down through the bottom panel and into the cleats to secure it. Cover the nailheads with dabs of wood putty.

Next comes the top stretchers, so cut them to length and width. Notice in the Exploded View Drawing that the outside corners of the stretchers need to be notched to fit around the legs, so cut those 3/4″ x 1″ notches at the band saw or with a jigsaw.

The cabinet’s top panel will need to expand and contract across its width with changes in seasonal humidity. To account for this, I routed three 3/16″-wide x 3/8″-long slotted holes through the front stretcher, orienting these holes perpendicular to the stretcher’s length. That way, the cabinet’s top panel will still be able to expand or contract when screws are driven through these slotted holes. (The rear stretcher, however, can have typical round screw pilot holes instead, in order to hold the panel stationary along its back edge.)

Drill a series of screw pockets into the top faces of the top stretchers so you can attach them to the top front rail and the back panel with 1-1/4″ pocket screws. Spread glue along the contact edges of the stretchers, position them slightly below the top edges of the cabinet and clamp them in place. Drive in the pocket screws to secure the stretchers. (The reason for positioning the stretchers slightly below the top edges of the cabinet is so the top panel installation screws will pull it down tightly against the cabinet when they are driven through the stretchers.)

Adding Shelves and Doors

Glue up a panel of solid wood for the cabinet’s top panel. I used some clear cherry I had on hand, in order to contrast attractively with this cabinet’s sage-green painted finish and give the project some two-tone pizzazz. When the top panel’s glue joints cure, rip and crosscut it to final size, and ease its bottom ends and front edge with a chamfering bit in a handheld router. I sized these chamfer cuts to match the chamfered sticking profile on my rail router bit.

Next, make up the cabinet’s shelves from slightly oversized panels of solid wood. Again, I used cherry. When they come out of the clamps, rip and crosscut the shelves to final size. Notch all four corners so the shelves can fit around the inside corners of the legs, and test-fit them inside the cabinet with the shelf pins in place.

That leaves us with building the doors, so round up the door frame parts you made earlier. Determine the final length of the door rails, and crosscut them to size. When you make this calculation, keep in mind that it’s always better to start with doors that fit their openings tightly and trim or plane them to final size, rather than have the doors be too short or narrow for the cabinet opening to begin with. Head back to the router table so you can mill the cope profile into the ends of the door rails.

Dry-assemble the two door frames, and measure their interior openings for door panels. Cut two panels to these dimensions from 1/4″ plywood or MDF. Then finish-sand the rails, stiles and panels, and glue each door together.

When the doors come out of the clamps, carefully trim or plane them to final length and width. Allow for about 1/16″ of clearance between the top and bottom ends of the doors and the cabinet’s top and bottom front rails. Leave this same amount of spacing along the hinge edges of the doors and where the doors meet in the middle.

No-mortise hinges will make these doors easy to install. Start by attaching the bent “wrap-around” leaf of each hinge to the back of each door. I tend to align the top or bottom ends of hinge knuckles even with the inside edges of the door rails, as I have done here. Now lay the cabinet on its back and clamp a temporary spacer behind the top rail to act as a ledge so you can set the doors in the cabinet opening. Adjust them for even gaps all around. Carefully mark the locations of the flat “leg-side” hinge leaves on the inside leg faces. Then remove the doors and unscrew the hinges. Set the hinges into place on the legs, and mark the flat-leaf screw hole locations onto them. Fasten the hinges to the legs, driving a single screw into one of the slotted hinge leaf holes in each hinge for now. Attach the hinges to the doors again, and shift the hinges up or down on the legs to achieve an even gap above and below the doors. Once the gaps are dialed in, drive the rest of the leg-side hinge leaf screws.

With the doors hung, add a door catch to each door. The magnetic catch hardware I used has a bent-steel receiver piece that mounts to the bottom edge of the upper front rail. The magnetic component fastens to the inside top back corner of each door with screws.

Finishing Up with Several Finishes

Remove the doors, hinges and catches to prepare for painting. I applied two coats of General Finishes Basil Milk Paint to the cabinet’s carcass and doors with a foam roller and brush. The top panel and shelf received three coats of General Finishes Enduro-Var II water-based satin urethane finish, also applied with a roller. Give the paint and clear finish at least eight hours between coats to fully dry.

To add even more protection to the painted areas, I rolled on a coat of General Finishes’ new Dead Flat topcoat.

Once the finishing stage is behind you, set the top panel into place on the cabinet, adjusting it for an even 1″ overhang on the ends and front edge; it should be flush with the back of the cabinet. Attach it with wood screws driven up through the pilot holes in the back stretcher and the slotted holes in the front stretcher. I used 1-3/8″-long pocket screws here. Center the screws in the slotted holes.

Your last task is to drill a through hole in each door for the knob hardware you’ve chosen. I centered mine on the lengths of the doors. Then rehang the doors in the cabinet on their hinges. Choose heights for the shelves inside, and install them with shelf pins. Mount the door knobs on the doors with machine screws to complete this helpful and handsome storage project.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Oil Rubbed Bronze, Ball Tip, Partial Wrap-Around Hinge (2) #24720
Magnetic Catch For Inset Doors (2) #30546
Oil Rubbed Bronze Zachary Knob, 1-1/16″ (2) #52237

The post PROJECT: Shaker-inspired Cabinet appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Now, we all here recognize that this project is a bit aspirational for most woodworkers. Heck, you might only have one sander or very little money to spend. And judging by the very long list of components I’ve integrated into this unit, you might shake your head in disbelief. But my hope is that once I walk you through this project’s design, there might be a few features to tuck away in the back of your mind for when you DO need a sanding station of some sort. And I hope this project overview of mine encourages you to visit rockler.com for the almost astonishing variety of dust collection fittings and accessories you’ll find there. If you need a dust collection solution, whatever it might be, Rockler probably has it.

A Walk Through the Station’s Basic Construction

You’ll see my starting point: it’s an amalgam of Rockler’s Rock-Steady Shop Stand legs, four 28″ stretchers and six 44″ rails. (I used four long rails for the basic stand and an extra two longs rails serve as supports for the upper shelf that holds our downdraft table.)

The shelf is also a raceway of sorts for the 4″ and 2-1/2″ dust hoses that pass through it on the way to the station’s top. Both the upper and lower shelves are made of 3/4″ MDF, and so is a side wall I built for mounting a central “trunk line” of dust collection fittings on the station’s lower shelf.

The top surface of my sanding station is a piece of Rockler’s 1-1/2″-thick x 28″ x 40″ prefab hardwood butcher block, which I split in half, widthwise, on the table saw. Its 28″ width fits the top of the Rock-Steady stand perfectly, and the material is rigid enough not to need any intermediate cross supports underneath. One half of the butcher block serves as a “table” for our spindle sander.

If you look closely at the opening photo of this article, I surrounded the downdraft table on three sides with two layers of 3/4″ x 2″ MDF strips to create a flush surface the rest of the way around the top of the Rock-Steady stand. After laminating these MDF strips together, I simply screwed them and the butcher block section to the top stretchers of the stand with #6 x 3/4″ flathead wood screws, driven up from underneath.

The other half of the butcher block is on the opposite end of the station. It mounts to the project with brackets from Rockler’s new Rock-Steady Knock-Down Table Saw Outfeed Kit.

The kit’s folding, telescoping legs make it possible for us to extend the cart’s worktop length when we need to by tipping this section of the worktop up. It folds down for storage when we’re done sanding. I think it’s a handy addition!

In terms of the basic order of operations for assembling the project, after I had wrenched together the steel stand and installed oversized casters on its legs, I cut the two shelf panels to shape. The upper shelf needed a couple of large holes cut through it for the two dust hose sizes to pass through.

I located these holes quite a ways away from the bottom trunk line of dust collection to ensure that the bends in the hoses would be as broad and gentle as possible; I didn’t want to restrict airflow by bending the hoses any more severely than necessary. Also, I actually reversed the orientation of the two long upper shelf stretchers so that the shelf panel could nest down inside rather than sit on top of them.

With this shelf in place, the downdraft table’s height was just where I needed it to be: flush to the worktop’s surface. For both the 4″ and 2-1/2″ hoses, I used 90-degree elbows to help them change direction where they pass through the upper shelf.

The MDF wall on the bottom left end of the station went in next. It’s doubled up with a narrower piece on the inside face to provide a thicker attachment surface for the dust collection fittings. This shorter inner layer also offsets the dust collection assembly from the station’s steel legs enough so a 4″ Dust Right Quick Change Handle can plug straight into it.

After I had the shelves and wall installed, I added the tip-up portion of butcher block using the Outfeed Kit. Rockler provides thorough instructions for how to mount the hardware components of the kit and its legs, so follow those carefully.

The leg brackets attach to the worktop with machine screws that pass all the way through it. I was able to easily tackle drilling those holes with my drill/driver mounted on Rockler’s Portable Drill Guide and using a long twist bit. The drill guide ensures that holes will run straight through whatever you’re drilling.

Once you have one of these drill guides, you’ll be surprised by how often it can come to the rescue for drilling through workpieces that are two big or bulky to hulk over to the drill press. I countersunk the worktop bolt holes for the tapered heads of the machine screws so there’d be no chance of them marring anything we happen to be sanding.

Rockler Downdraft Table Panels

Prefabricated downdraft tables, such as the blue steel version shown in the opening photo, are just one option. You can also purchase only the perforated top panels and build a downdraft table yourself from sheet goods and a dust collection port.

These 6-3/4″x 16-1/2″ steel panels with rubber grommets offer a more economical, customizable solution to fit your sanding needs and budget.

A Menagerie of Dust Collection Fittings

The last 13 items of the “Hard to Find Hardware” box are all dust collection hoses, fittings, adapters and brackets for creating this sanding station’s dust collection trunk line. I’ve already covered how the 2-1/2″ and 4″ hoses pass through the upper shelf. The smaller hose terminates on top in an adapter dust port that’s mounted below the worktop on the left end of the spindle sander table. This port enables smaller power tool dust hoses to be connected to the 2-1/2″ main hose with Rockler’s new Click-Connect tool adapters. This makes it simple to use dust collection with any sander we’re using and to have no excuses for not keeping the work area as clean as possible. I think that’s one of the big reasons why we often don’t use dust collection — it can be a hassle to hook up quickly and easily. That’s not a problem with this setup.

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What about the components that form the dust collection trunk line down below? Well, that collection of fittings, adapters and sections of hose took a lot of figuring on my part. Because as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, one goal was to have all of the dust collection accommodations of this station be serviced by one 4″ dust collector. I also wanted the 2-1/2″ and 4″ hoses to be able to be used at the same time (for instance, to run a random-orbit sander and the downdraft table simultaneously) or to have the option of closing one or the other off when needed (say, to run just dust collection for the spindle sander or only the downdraft table when hand-sanding on top of it). Here’s how I did it. The two sizes of hose attach to a pair of side-by-side blast gates attached to the bottom shelf. The 4″ blast gate connects with a coupling to a 90-degree elbow, and a coupling in turn connects it to a 4″-to-2-1/2″ Y-connector.

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The smaller blast gate ports into this Y-connector with a short piece of 2-1/2″ hose. From there, the remaining 4″ end of the Y-connector has a short length of 4″ hose that feeds to an adapter piece from Rockler’s Quick Change Tool Set. That’s where we attach the sanding station to our dust collector. Several Rockler Ready-Mount 4″ Brackets secure these various parts to the station’s side wall with short screws. This integrated trunk line was worth the careful planning, because so far it’s serving our sanding needs well by helping to keep the dust at bay!

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Legs for Rockler Rock-Steady Shop Stands, 4-Pack, 28″H (1) #56980
Stretchers for Rockler Rock-Steady Shop Stands, 4-Pack, 28″L (1) #62379
Stretchers for Rockler Rock-Steady Shop Stands, 4-Pack, 44″L (2) #53469
Butcher Block Worktop, 40″L x 28″D x 1-1/2″ Thick (1) #61342
Rockler Rock-Steady Knock-Down Table Saw Outfeed Kit (1) #65575
Dust Right Downdraft Table (1) #57664
4″ 300-lb. Heavy Duty Stem-Mount Polyurethane Caster, Swivel with Total Lock Brake (4) #87643
Clear Flexible Dust Collection Hose – 2-1/2″ Diameter (1) #22784
Clear Flexible Hose – 10 Feet Long 4″ Diameter (1) #22791
Dust Right 4″ Quick Change Tool Set (1) #52594
Dust Right 4″ Mountable Dust Coupler (1) #58448
Dust Right Ready-Mount 4″-to-2 1/2″ Y-Connector (1) #66519
Dust Right Ready-Mount 4″ Mounting Brackets, 2-Pack (1) #65053
Dust Right Quick Connect 4″ Elbow (2) #34432
Rockler 4″ Dust Coupling (1) #27651
2-1/2″-to-2-1/2″ Ready-Mount Blast Gate (1) #69089
4″-to-4″ Ready-Mount Blast Gate (1) #65837
Dust Right Ready-Mount 2-1/2″ 90° Elbow (1) #62138
Dust Right Ready-Mount 2-1/2″ Mounting Brackets, Pair (1) #63960
Dust Right Click-Connect Upgrade Kit for FlexiPort Hose Kit (1) #61615

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In the version that our art director, Jeff Jacobson, came up with here, there are three scoring options: a rhombus-shaped area that is worth negative-one point, a central hole that is worth one point and a smaller-diameter upper hole that is worth two points. Keeping score will require addition and subtraction, which will be great practice for kids. And the variety of scoring options will mean a more unpredictable and more competitive game. Jeff came up with the concept by thinking about the skee-ball arcade games of his misspent youth.

Starting with a Template for Accuracy

This is a perfect project for a template. You are making multiple holes through the plywood, and they all need to be placed accurately. In addition, these two game boards need to be identical. And as sometimes happens, when your friends or family members play the game, they might want one of their own. With a master template, you can get them done in short order.

I made my template from 3/8″ MDF cut to 14″ wide and 24″ long. Then I began to mark out the various shapes and holes that I would cut out to guide my router. Look at the Drawings for all of these details. I began by scribing a line down the center of the blank along its length. Then I drew a line across the width of the MDF at the center point of the handles. These two axes then allowed me to accurately locate all of the remaining details.

An important consideration here is how you are going to cut out those holes on the actual game boards. If you are going to simply trace the shapes onto the plywood and then cut out the openings with a handheld jigsaw, then create the template so that the marks you transfer to the plywood are exactly the size shown on the Drawings. If you are going to, as I did, rout out the openings and the curved sides, then figure out the off set of the rub collar you will be using. I used a 1/4″ bit in a 3/8″ O.D. rub collar. That left 1/16″ off set between the bit and the edge of the collar.

For that reason, I marked the diameter of the holes 1/8″ larger than the final openings. (Although I must confess that we are not talking rocket surgery here, the size of the holes can vary a bit and you’ll still have a usable game.) I only shaped one edge of the template and cut out one handle opening. I flipped the template over to form the second edge and the second handle hole on each board, which helped make the boards identical. I cut out the template openings and the curved shape of the edge with a handheld jigsaw.

Making the Game Boards

Start out by cutting three pieces of 1/2″ plywood to 14″ x 24″. Place a sacrificial board (I used some scrap plywood) on your workbench. Then put the plywood blank down and clamp the template over the top of it. Their edges should match exactly. Go ahead and cut out the openings with your plunge router, making two roughly 1/4″-deep passes. When you have finished machining both game boards, grab the third piece of plywood and rout it into the shape of a game board, but without any of the openings. Then cut off 9″ from each end to make the backer boards. They get mounted behind the rhombus-shaped openings to close those holes.

There are two leg mounting blocks yet to be made. They are 1-1/2″ x 1-1/4″ x 12″ in size and can be made of solid wood, or as I did, laminated up from three pieces of the 1/2″ plywood I had been using for this project. When you’ve made those pieces you need to drill 19/64″-diameter holes to mount the T-nuts in. See the Drawings for the hole locations. Pound the T-nuts home.

Adding Legs and Final Details

Just a few more things to consider and do before you are done. First, how are you going to finish the game? We chose to paint it white with bright accent colors. It just seemed right. But you could apply a clear finish and be happy with that. It’s up to you.

With that determined, go ahead and cut the legs to length from 1-1/4″-diameter dowel stock. Drill a hole in one end and screw a hanger bolt into the hole. If you are painting the legs, now is the time.

Mount the backer board behind the rhombus opening with screws driven in from the back. Secure the leg-mounting block to the game board with screws driven in from the top of the board. And with that your project is completed. Set the game up, prepare for some basic addition and subtraction and get started with the fun!

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

1/2″ American Birch Plywood, 24″W x 48″L (1) #62379
1/4″-20 x 1-1⁄2″ Hanger Bolts, 8 pack (1) #24406
T Nuts 1/4″ (#20), 8 Pack (1) #26054
Dowel Rod – Birch – 36″ x 1-1/4″ (1) #20800

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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The game is played with the two game boards you make and a couple of sets of 5″ x 5″ beanbags. The game is scored by the number of bags that fall on or in each hole. The top hole is worth 2 points. The middle hole is worth 1 point. And the bottom hole costs you 1 point.

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Milwaukee M12 FUEL Orbital Detail Sander

Bench Dog 12 oz. Brass Mallet with Sapele Handle

Rockler Rock-Steady Knock-Down Table Saw Outfeed Kit

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Skee Bag Game: Bag-toss games are enormously popular during the temperate months. Why not bring that fun indoors this winter by building a fun-to-play, scaled-down version? The whole family will appreciate the effort!

Shaker-inspired Cabinet: Here’s a multipurpose cabinet plan that’s as easy to make as it is attractive. General Finishes milk paint and some clear-finished cherry give it pizzazz.

Chevron Table: This eye-catching accent table’s colorful top is bound to start conversation, and the lumber supplies you’ll need to build it may be as close as your offcut bin.

Ultimate Sanding Station Our art director pulled out all the stops when designing this all-in-one shop helper. It’s got space for benchtop sanders, a downdraft table and large-scale hand-sanding, plus an impressive ducting system for efficient dust collection.

Shop Talk: A Rockler store associate shares the five stages of his woodturning addiction that turned a pastime into extra pocket cash and some rewarding teaching opportunities.

Modern Shop Hand Tools: Master woodworker Ernie Conover covers the basics of using and sharpening backsaws, in this new-for-2023 focus on practical hand tools.

Simplifying Bit Setups: Learn how to set up and use rail-and-style router bits. It’s the first in a new six-part series intended to help build your confidence with some of our craft’s trickier router bit options.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: A.J. Hamler will help you raise your bar of skills at the table saw, in this primer about cutting tapers and coves, plus various non-through cuts. It’s another six-part series we’re happy to announce for the new year!

Tool Preview:: Imagine owning a 12-in. jointer! Now visualize it piggybacking a 12-in. planer and taking up about half the space of two separate stationary tools. That’s what JET has to offer in the JPJ-12BHH Planer/Jointer combination machine. Here’s a closer look at this impressive machine.

Hardworking Hardware: T-nuts and threaded inserts can be just the knock-down solution your shop fixtures and furniture projects need. Our publisher explains how to choose and install them wisely.

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