This interior shutter project has a lot going for it, including excellent light transmission that doesn’t compromise privacy and simple modular construction. You can use almost any wood for these shutters, but typically it’s best to either match or complement your existing woodwork. I used vertical-grain pine that has a naturally attractive ribbon pattern and a medium ivory color. It’s also easy to work and relatively inexpensive. A translucent shoji-style fiberglass material works well for the screen, but there are a number of other materials you can use such as rice paper and plastic-coated paper. Keep in mind that this is a millwork project, so it doesn’t require quite the high level of workmanship you might devote to a furniture project. The thickness and width of the parts work for most window sizes, so you only need to adjust the length. For very large windows, you might want to scale up the size of the parts or add more lattice strips to the grid. The variations on this project are almost infinite,so you’ll likely want to add your own special touches.

Measure, Mill, Join Frames

You’ll need to start by measuring your window casing and checking it for square. Measure the exact opening, then subtract about a quarter inch from the sides and top/bottom to allow a little room for swing clearance and space for the hinges. (Most carpentry isn’t as precise as your woodworking, so you may need to make some adjustments after you assemble the frames.) For large windows or ganged windows, consider making bifold or multiple shutters to span the area.

Because this project lends itself to mass production, it’s best to mill the frame parts for all the windows you intend to cover before doing any joinery, to ensure consistency. (Read on to learn more about making the lattice strips.) A jointer and planer are almost a necessity to achieve straight, square and uniform stock. You might want to sand the parts lightly before you start the joinery.

There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to joinery. I used a Festool Domino to make floating mortise-and-tenon joints. This tool can quickly make strong, precise joints. However, a plate joiner is just as fast and makes acceptably strong joints. You can also attain very good results with dowels or pocket-hole screws.

Once you’ve glued and clamped the frames, you can sand them with 150-grit paper. Be sure to ease the edges enough so they won’t splinter, but don’t round them too much. If your shutters are a matching pair like this project, mark the top edges with arrows that point to the front and inside stile edges. This will serve to keep the shutters paired and correctly oriented. Check the bare frames in the window casing to be sure they fit with some room to spare and make necessary adjustments. If the fit is too tight, trim the inside stile edges that form the closure between the shutters.

Now is as good a time as any to cut the translucent screen material. This should be done before fastening any lattice parts inside the frame because the bare frame serves as a pattern. The easiest way is to lay the frame on top of the screen material and trace around the inside with a pencil; then use a metal straightedge and a utility knife to cut the material.

Make Lattice Strips and Router Jig

If there’s a fussy part of this project, it’s making the lattice. The 3/8″ x 3/8″ lattice strips must be uniform, and the half-lap joints that form the grid must be precisely made. There are a number of ways to make the strips, but I’ve found that using a band saw and a planer is efficient and it keeps waste and dust to a minimum.

First, rip wide pieces from 3″ or 4″ stock roughly 7/16″ thick. Next, rip 7/16″-square strips from these pieces. Now you need to remove the saw marks and mill the strips to exactly 3/8″ square. Run the strips through your planer making four total passes: the first two on perpendicular sides of the strips to remove about 1/32″ and then a third and fourth pass on the opposite sides for the final 3/8″ dimension. The strips might not be perfectly square, but the deviation with pieces this small will be insignificant — try making a few practice pieces first. (If your planer won’t adjust down to 3/8″, you can make a sub-base out of particleboard or MDF to fit under the planer’s cutterhead.) Make more pieces than you’ll need because you’ll unavoidably have some ruined pieces.

You can use a table saw to make the half-lap joints, but I think a router jig is more accurate and makes cleaner joints. The router jig is simple and easy to make with MDF or particleboard and a few bits of hardware. There are two basic parts: the base and the router carriage. The base has a thin hardboard fence attached to it to align to workpieces so they’re perpendicular to the router carriage. The router carriage is adjustable for different stock thickness with the carriage bolts and should be made to fit your router (or at least the guide rails positioned for your router’s base).

Adhere sandpaper or self adhesive abrasive strips to the carriage bottom to prevent stock from shifting. To ensure that the jig makes accurate cuts, all the parts should be square, the carriage bolt holes should align perfectly in the base and router carriage, and the fence on the base should be perpendicular to the slot in the router carriage. The fence should be the last piece you install because it’s dependent on how the base and router carriage are aligned. Finally, run the router into the fence with a 3/8″ bit to create an alignment mark.

Cut Half-lap Joints

There are several tips that can increase your success in cutting the half-lap joints. You should cut all the strips to the exact length before you cut the joints. Use the shutter frames to determine the fit, and you might want to make dedicated sets of strips for each frame in case there are slight dimensional differences.

Once you cut the strips, use masking tape to gang them together with the ends perfectly flush. Mark the joint locations in pencil, and then scribe the joint lines with a utility knife. This will help prevent any chipping or tearout from the router. When you place the ganged strips in the jig, be sure they’re abutting the fence, that the joint lines correspond with the router alignment mark on the fence and that the carriage bolts are securely tightened. Also, place an extra piece of lattice to the outside of the ganged pieces to help balance the height of the router carriage.

Rout the joints with a 3/8″ straight bit and make the cuts in two passes while keeping the router pressed against the guide rails. Work carefully and don’t force the router through the cut. Use dust collection if your router has it. It will enable you to see the start and stop of the cut much more easily.

Assemble the Lattice

You’ll assemble the front lattice in the frame and the rear lattice as a standalone unit. The rear lattice acts as a retainer for the screen material and provides visual balance when the shutters are open.

Begin by marking the 1/8″ setback guidelines for the front lattice inset with a combination square and pencil. Before you start, make a dry run to ensure the grid strips fit properly in the frame.

The strips don’t need to be glued; pin nails provide all the needed fastening. The holes made by the nails are so small, they’re almost invisible and don’t need to be filled.

Attach the vertical lattice strips to the stiles, then the horizontal ones to the rails. Now you can add the inside vertical strips with a little glue in the joints followed by the horizontal strips.

The rear lattice goes together the same way with glue in all the joints, but it’s not permanently attached to the frame. You just need to check that it fits flush over the front grid and isn’t too large (or small) for the frame.

To fasten the front and rear grids together, you need to bore screw holes and countersinks for #4 x 5/8″ brass screws through the rear grid into the four inside grid intersections. Install the screws to cut the threads before you finish and assemble the shutters.

With the grids completed, now is a good time to set the hinge positions. The shutter hinges have removable pins so they work on the left or right side. Unless your shutters are very large or heavy, stick with two hinges on each side. Three or more hinges can cause binding and complicate installation. It’s important that the screw holes are perfectly centered to keep the hinges aligned. I used a self-centering Insty-Drive bit for this purpose. Remove the hinges before finishing.

Finish, Assemble, Install Shutters

Sand the assemblies with 150-grit paper and be sure to ease all sharp edges. There’s no need to sand too much or with a finer grit paper — the finish will hide many imperfections. Thoroughly clean off all the dust before applying finish.

Because the shutters are next to windows, they’re exposed to more light and temperature variations than other woodwork in your home. A film finish will help reduce seasonal wood movement and protect the wood from wear and tear. I brushed on two coats of a clear waterborne interior finish and opted not to stain because the natural color of the wood was appealing without alteration. For a smooth finish, sand lightly with 320-grit paper between coats to remove dust nibs.

Once the finish has cured, install the screen material. The fiberglass shoji that I used is stiff enough so that no glue, tape or staples were needed to retain it in the frame. But you might need to fasten thin paper screen to the back of the front grid if it doesn’t stay put. Install the rear grid over the screen and install the brass screws; then reinstall the hinges.

Installing the shutters isn’t difficult, but there a few steps you can take to reduce any possible frustration. Use a thin spacer between the window casing and the shutter to eliminate the possibility of binding. The hinges also have a slotted hole to allow for vertical adjustment, so use only this hole until you’ve installed the opposing shutter and can align the pair. If the shutters are a little twisted in the frame, you can try moving one of the hinges slightly out to compensate. And if the gap where the shutters meet isn’t even, use a shim behind the hinge leaf. When the shutters seem reasonably well aligned, install the rest of the screws. I installed a magnetic touch latch to retain the shutters. It eliminates the need for knobs to open and close the shutters to maintain a clean appearance.

If you’re like me, once you’ve built a few of these shutters you’ll want to make more sets for other rooms in your home. They’ll help keep your rooms light and airy even on the most dreary days.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

Hard to Find Hardware

Double Magnetic Touch Latch (1) #28415
3″ Non-Mortise Butt Hinges (1) #47658
Solid Brass Screws – 4 x 5/8″ (1 pk.) #30503
Rockler Silicone Glue Brush (1) #45624
Insty-Drive Self-Centering Bits (1) #69053

The post Make Your Own Translucent-Screen Shutters appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

You can adapt the basic structure of this bench to make one of practically any size, but I think the one at the top of the opposite page looks about right. With a 44″-long top, 11″ wide, it seats two comfortably. The overhang is only 8-1/2″ long, so there is little chance of flipping it by sitting on the end.

The only “tricky” joint is a sliding slip joint between the apron and the two supports. You can make this on the table saw or cut it by hand — if you trust yourself to hand saw to a line accurately. I used local white ash (I’d just bought a butt log from our local sawyer), but any reasonably hard wood such as maple, oak, walnut, cherry or even fir would do equally well.

Bench

For children, you could very well reduce the overall size of this bench 80%, 75% or even 50%. It’s best not to reduce the thickness of the supports by the same amount, or it will begin to look frail. The bench in the photo above is reduced 50% from the adult version, so it is only 22″ long and 8″ high. Instead of reducing the width of the top in proportion, I left it a little wider for stability — 7-1/2″ instead of 5-1/2″.

The first step is to make an accurate, full-size, half-pattern of the hourglass-shaped vertical supports. I use the 1/8″ plywood known as doorskin, which makes excellent pattern stock. Use the pattern to mark out the two end supports, but leave these as rectangular blanks until after sawing the slip joints. That way, you can use the table saw fence to make accurate, identical cuts. Clamp a stop block to it, as shown below, so you don’t oversaw. Complete the cut by chiseling out the waste or using a coping saw. Finish cutting out the supports by band sawing just clear of the curved lines, then clean up the sawn edges with an inside spokeshave that has a convex sole. Finish with a 2″ drum sander mounted either in a drill press or a handheld electric drill.

Cut out the stretcher, then notch it on the table saw to fit the slots already cut in the verticals. These must be a close, sliding fit: too snug and you are likely to split the ends of the stretcher; too loose, and you’ll end up with a bench that wobbles. A Japanese Shinto saw file, which has both a coarse and a medium side, is the best tool for fitting end grain joints such as these.

Now cut the stretcher to length and, with the aid of a doweling jig, drill two holes in each end for 3/8″ dowels. Use doweling points to transfer the hole centers to the two supports. Glue the stretcher in place and adjust the clamps so the two supports toe out slightly — not more than 1/8″ or 3/16″. This helps compensate for the optical illusion of parallel lines appearing to converge when seen from above.

The top of this bench is best attached to the base with 1/2″ dowels. To facilitate dismantling for moving or storage, glue the dowels into the base only, not the top.

Instead of rounding the sharp edges with a wood file or sandpaper, I think it looks better to plane a neat 45˚ chamfer. This makes a crisper impression than the blunted look of a soft, rounded edge. Chamfer the inside curves — both sides, inside and out — and be consistent: make a uniform 1/8″ or 3/32″ flat.

The child’s bench is made in exactly the same way, but you may need to use smaller dowel pins.

Finishing

If you plan on using the bench indoors, you can finish with Watco® oil: two applications, with a light sanding in between, using #600-grit wet/dry abrasive paper and oil as the lubricant. Be sure to wipe off the surplus within 30 minutes, or you’ll be contending with a nasty, yellow, wrinkled finish. Remember to treat the oily rags as incendiary bombs — douse them in water or put them outside on a safe surface to dry.

If the bench is going to live outdoors, consider using a wood that weathers well: teak would be my first choice, mahogany second and any of the cedars third. If you use a wood such as red oak, which is prone to check severely in rain and sun, treat it with Epifanes®, a penetrating outdoor sealer widely used on boats. Of course, the lowest maintenance finish of all is a couple of coats of good paint — you might even acquire the almost forgotten skills of painting and graining it to look like teak!

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

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Making the Legs

The Material List lists quantities for one nightstand, and that’s how I’ll describe the building process here. Double the part list if you build two. Round up some 6/4 stock for four legs, and mill them to final-sized blanks, then study the Drawings carefully. You’ll see that the side panels fit into long grooves, and the fixed shelf and bottom panel slip into shallow dadoes that intersect those grooves.

So, start with those pairs of short dadoes. I routed mine using a simple shop-made, slotted jig. Mill these 1/4″ deep. Be sure to mirror the dado orientations on the front and back leg pairs. Then, head to the router table to rout the 1/4″-deep side panel grooves with a 1/2″ bit. Stop them 2-1⁄4″ up from the leg bottoms.

While you’re still at the router table, and with the same bit, you can cut 1/4″- deep mortises on the inside edges of the front legs for the top, middle and bottom rails. The 3/4″-long top rail mortise is open at the tops of the legs, while the middle rail’s 1″- and bottom rail’s 11⁄2″- long mortises are closed on the ends, as usual. Position them all 3/8″ back from the front faces of the legs.

This project’s back panel is 3/4″ thick, so switch to a router bit appropriate for your plywood thickness (I used a 23/32″-diameter undersized plywood bit) and mill the back panel grooves 1/4″ deep. Set your router table fence so these grooves are located 1/4″ in from the outside faces of the back legs. Stop them 1-3⁄4″ up from the leg bottoms. With the leg joinery now tackled, you can chisel all the groove and mortise ends square. Then, make a short template of the legs’ cloudlift shape from scrap, and use it both to trace leg profiles for initial rough-cutting at the band saw, then to template-rout the cloudlifts to final form. Drill some shelf pin holes in the legs now, too — those will be much tougher to do later.

Building the Side Assemblies

The side rails are your next order of business. Cut four blanks to size, and head back to the router table to mill their side-panel grooves. Notice that, while these centered grooves are all 1/2″ wide, the bottom side rail grooves happen on top and are 1/2″ deep, while the top side rail grooves are situated on their bottom edges at 3/4″ deep; label your rails and work carefully. Once the grooves are cut, raise 1/4″ tenons on the rail ends at the router table or table saw. Then, make a double cloudlift template so you can mill these shapes onto the bottoms of the rail edges, too.

Given the striking pattern of the door and top’s ribbon-stripe figure, it would have been a shame for the side panels to be made from mediocre-veneered plywood stock. Why not make these side panels showstoppers, too?! So, I resawed and glued up some 3/8″-thick panels of quartersawn mahogany for the side panel veneer, then planed those down to 1/4″ thick. I cut backer panels for these veneers from 1/4″ mahogany plywood, which fattened the overall side panel thickness to 1/2″.

You could use a conventional veneer press and armloads of clamps to glue and press the veneer and substrates together, but when I laid up these two panels, I tried a 26″ x 28″ Thin Air Press Kit from roarockit.com instead. Vacuum pressure alone does the clamping work beautifully.

Once my two custom-veneered panels were out of the bag, I trimmed them to final size. Final-sand and glue up the legs, rails and side panels into two side assemblies. Set them aside for now.

Assembling the Carcass

There’s plenty left to do while the side assemblies dry. Continue on by following the Drawings to make top, middle and bottom front rails with 1/2″-thick, 1/4″-long tenons on their ends to match the front leg mortises. The bottom front rail receives a cloudlifted bottom profile. The middle and top rails will also need a pair of 1/2″ x 1/2″-square mortises, cut 1/4″ deep, along their inside edges to house the full slats, yet to come.

Make two back rails now, as well. These receive centered, 1/4″-deep grooves along their inside edges to house the plywood back panel. Cut the grooves carefully: their width needs to match your plywood thickness, and the walls of the grooves are just 1/8″ thick. When the grooves are done, mill 1/4″-long tenons on the back rails; their thickness must match the groove width on the inside faces of the back legs. Then template-rout a cloud lift profile along the bottom edge of the bottom back rail to match the front bottom rail.

You’re ready to cut plywood blanks to size for the back panel, fixed shelf and carcass bottom. After a light sanding with 180-grit paper, bore pocket screw holes into the bottom faces of the fixed shelf and bottom panels along their front edges: they’ll connect to the rails, later.

Create blanks for the two 3/4″ x 3/4″ x 6″ full slats next, then form 1/4″-long tenons on their ends to fit the top and middle front rail mortises.

It’s time to dry-assemble the rails, slats, back, fixed shelf and bottom on the side assemblies to check the fit of all the carcass parts. If everything registers well, glue the back panel into the back rails to create a third subassembly. Form a fourth glue-up of the top and middle front rails and slats.

Bring the four subassemblies together again in another dry fit. Rip and crosscut two half slats to fit against the legs between the top and middle front rails. Glue them to the legs to wrap up the last of the carcass parts you’ll need. At this point, stain and topcoat these big components while you can still lay them flat.

When the finish cures, cut the two hinge mortises on the inside edge of one front leg, depending on which way you want the door to swing. You can rout or chisel these shallow mortises; I made a simple clamp-on routing jig for this job and routed the hinge mortises with my piloted hinge-mortising bit.

You’re finally ready to glue and clamp the carcass together, with all the parts you’ve made so far. While you’re at it, drive 1-1⁄4″ pocket screws through the fixed shelf and bottom panel to draw these panels tight to the front rails.

Glue up a panel of solid wood for the adjustable shelf next, and trim it to final size. Check its fit inside the carcass before you sand, stain and apply finish.

Making the Door

The door’s construction is stone-simple cabinetry work: stub tenons on the ends of the rails fit into the grooves in the stiles that also house the center panel. Start by milling stock for the door rails and stiles. At your router table or table saw, plow 1/4″-wide, 3/8″-deep continuous grooves along the inside edges of all four door frame parts for the center panel. Then machine 3/8″-long stub tenons on the ends of the rails using a dado blade in your table saw or at the router table. Lastly, glue up a 1/2″-thick panel of solid wood for the door panel, and trim it to fi nal width and length.

I used a cove-shaped, raised-panel cutter in the router table to add curved profiles around the front face of the door panel, and to reduce its edges to slip into the frame grooves. (It’s the same bit I chose for the bed’s two center panels.) Shape the panel in several rounds of passes, raising the bit about 1/16″ each time, to minimize burning.

Sand the door frame parts and panel, then go ahead and stain and finish the door panel now. When that cures, glue up the door frame with the panel installed: this enables you to trim the “raw” frame to fit its opening, scrape or sand the corner joints fl at, if needed, and cut the door hinge mortises. Once these tasks are done, stain and finish the door frame to complete it.

Forming the Top

Breadboard tops with thicker ends are quite common on Greene & Greene furniture, and the ends of this top provide 1/8″ “step-ups” that add attractive shadow lines where they meet the thinner center panel. Glue up the top’s 3/4″ center panel, and cut a pair of 1″-thick blanks for the two end pieces.

Since my panel is made from quartersawn mahogany, its cross-grain wood movement will be minimal. So, I resolved that its tenons could be continuous, rather than divided up — an otherwise typical necessity for wide breadboard panels made of more reactive, flatsawn stock.

I started by routing 3/8″-wide, 1-1⁄4″-deep continuous mortises in the breadboard ends, stopping them 1/2″ short of each end and centering them on the part thicknesses. The panel received matching tenons at the table saw, followed by a quick trip to the band saw to trim their end shoulders 5/8″ shy of the panel edges. After rounding their corners, I installed the breadboard ends with a bead of glue along just the middle 6″ of tenon length, and three 1/4″ x 1/4″-square pegs driven into mortised holes through the tenons. The center peg fits tight in the tenon, but the two outer pegs are nested into 1/2″-long slotted holes in the tenons that run cross-grain. This enables the panel to expand and contract while still staying centered on breadboard ends. I gently sanded the top ends of the pegs to “pillow” them before tapping them home. Their tops protrude 1/16″ above the faces of the breadboard ends — a nice tactile detail.

Finishing Up

Once you’ve applied finish to your top, install it with a pair of cleats screwed to the top insides of the side rails. I used four attachment screws for the top: the front two are driven into round pilot holes in the cleats and the back two fit in slotted holes.

After hanging the door on its hinges, I made a cloudlifted pull for the door and mounted it with a pair of countersunk #8 x 1-1⁄8″ wood screws. A ball catch came last to hold the door closed. Rest the adjustable shelf inside on its shelf pins, and your graceful nightstand is ready for bedside sentry duty. Jo Ellen’s are next to hers now.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

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When I thought about the design for this picnic table, it occurred to me that most are boringly utilitarian. You rarely see one in a distinct furniture style. With that in mind, I couldn’t see any reason why a picnic table couldn’t be just as sturdy and serviceable with a Mission flavor. (Who doesn’t love Arts & Crafts?) With its complementary horizontal and vertical lines along with the side slats, typical of the Mission style, you can bring flavor to your outdoor dining in more ways than one.

Wood Considerations

The first thought for any outdoor furniture is making it to withstand the elements. Regular pine dimensional lumber is inexpensive but should be painted or stained regularly if you want it to last. Treated construction lumber is also commonly used, although it’s very heavy and sometimes oddly colored.

Although more expensive, the best choices are woods that naturally resist both weather extremes and insect damage. Almost any lumber suitable for decks works great, with redwood, Western red cedar and even white oak being favorites. For the perfect balance between durability and weight, I’ve chosen Western red cedar.

Keep in mind that cedar typically comes with one or more sides left rough, which can slightly alter the dimensions from what you’re used to working with. It’s important when using cedar dimensional lumber to carefully measure your workpieces, and adjust component sizes accordingly. For example, typical pine 2x4s (smooth on all four sides) measure 1-1/2″ x 3-1/2″, but a cedar 2×4 (rough on all four sides) measures 1-3/4″ x 3-3/4″. The Material Lists list the actual sizes of the cedar used for this project.

Rough, but Ready: Working with Cedar

Western red cedar is a delightful wood. It’s great for outdoor products, it takes screws and nails readily, and your shop smells wonderful when cutting it. (And for days afterward!) But there are a couple of odd things about it you should know.

• Cedar typically comes with rough, unplaned faces; 1x dimensional cedar lumber usually has one rough face, while 2x stock is rough on all four faces. This roughness adds both thickness and width wherever it occurs. A dimensional pine 2×4 measures 1-1/2” x 3-1/2”, but a cedar 2×4 is 1-3/4” x 3-3/4”. This extra thickness may vary from board to board — or even within the same board — but count on an additional 1/8” for each rough face. Always measure your stock, and adjust workpiece size and nail/screw length to account for any variance.

• Cedar is splintery, really splintery, so handle it with care. Knock splinters off edges and corners with a plane or sanding block whenever possible. Take extra precautions when cutting cedar, particularly with a router or a dado cutter on the table saw, as splinters and knots — some of them surprisingly large — can fly in all directions even when using dust collection.

Getting Started

Cut your workpieces to size per the Material Lists. Keep in mind the actual dimensions of the cedar you get when cutting.

Rough cedar has a surface that can be quite splintery, especially on the corners of all straight edges. To make the stock easier to work with — and lower your chances of getting splinters — chamfer or bevel the edges a bit. A small block plane does great, as seen in the photo at right, but a sanding block with coarse paper also works fine. If you’re feeling ambitious, a small roundover bit in your router is another option.

I started the construction process with the benches, so that’s what you’ll see in most of the photos, but the procedure for building the ends of the main table and the benches is nearly identical: your construction can go in pretty much any order. However, you might find it more efficient to cut all your mortises for the side slats on both table and benches at the same time. For this task, I’ve installed a 3/4″ dado set in my table saw, but you could also make the notches with a circular saw and bench chisels, as seen in my video.

Lay out the notches by first measuring the thickness of the 1×4 side slats and setting the height of the dado cutter to match. (Remember, it’s probably slightly more than the typical 3/4″.) Starting in the center, carefully measure the spacing of each notch using a rule and square for accuracy. Since some of your marks are pretty close together, it’s a good idea to mark the waste areas.

With all the notches marked, start each with a pass over the dado cutter on your marks to define the width of the notch, and then just remove the waste in the center. Between the table and the two benches, you’ll have a total of 36 of these notches to cut, so pace yourself accordingly.

Finish the preparation of the end pieces by mitering the corners for both the top and bottom, and cutting the relief on the underside of the bottom pieces. The band saw is perfect for this, but a jigsaw or handsaw works just fine, too.

Assembling the Ends

Line up the top and bottom end pieces, making sure to orient the corner notches toward the middle. Be aware that 1x dimensional cedar is typically rough only on one side, so orient the slats with the smooth side facing inside the benches and table to give a uniform appearance on the outside.

Apply weatherproof glue into each notch and bridge the top and bottom pieces by dropping the slats into place. Drill countersunk pilot holes, then drive four exterior screws into each joint. With regular pine dimensional lumber 1-1⁄4″ screws are best to avoid piercing the other side, but with the typically thicker cedar, you should be able to use screws a full 1-1/2″ in length. Be sure to measure first.

Speaking of screws, you’re going to need a bunch: With 36 of these joints to secure, you’ll need 144 of them.

The boards for the tabletop and bench seats are secured via cleats from the underside. However, before attaching the cleats, give the inner top of each end piece a quick sanding to ensure that it’s flush across the slats. Due to the nature of cedar lumber, there may be a slight variance in thickness at the end from one slat to another. The difference probably won’t be much, if any, but you want to be sure it’s flush for the cleat to attach securely.

The cleats themselves are 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″ strips that I ripped from a 2×4. After making the cut, one side will be smooth from the saw blade, so use this side for the mating surface, and attach with glue and screws. For the thicker cedar, use 3″ screws, but slightly shorter screws if using regular dimensional lumber.

Making the Frames

For rigidity, the bench and table frames are joined with 2×4 stretchers underneath the top boards, while the table gets some additional bracing.

Cut the stretchers to length — the bench stretchers are sized smaller to allow the bottoms of the benches to fit between the ends of the table for comfortable seating. Clamp the stretchers to the ends of the mounting cleats, making sure that everything is flush along the top. Now, drill 1/4″ pilot holes for four evenly spaced 5/16″ x 4-1/2″ lag bolts through the bench and table ends, then drive the bolts in with washers.

Topping It Off

Lay the top boards on your workbench or assembly table, orienting the boards so their presentation sides are face down, and then upend and center the frames on your boards. The benches are pretty easy to handle, but you may want to enlist a helper for the table frame.

With the frame in place, drive a pair of exterior screws through the cleat and up into the undersides of each board. Note in the photo that I’m using some small pieces of 1/4″-thick scrap to act as spacers to get the boards uniformly spaced along their length. As before, 3″ screws work well with thicker 2x cedar, but adjust screw length accordingly for regular dimensional 2x lumber.

The cleats don’t extend past the stretchers, so, for the last attachment screws, countersink a diagonal pilot hole through each of the end pieces. Drive in a 3-1/2″ screw at each point to secure the edges of the outer boards.

Construction of the benches is complete, but the table needs one last component. Because of their low height, the stretchers in the benches are sufficient to make them solid, but the table requires a bit more bracing. Accomplish this with a pair of 36-1/2″ braces, mitered 45 degrees on each end. Locate the lower ends at the center of the table bottoms, allowing the tops to rest naturally where they fall on the underside of the table’s center board. Attach the lower ends to the table sides with a pair of countersunk 3″ screws driven from the inside. Check the table ends for square, then anchor the upper ends on the underside of the table the same way.

Finishing Up

By now you’ve certainly realized that cedar can be splinter-prone. (You probably got several while building; I know I did.) To keep from getting small splinters while dining at your new table, give the tabletop and the tops of the benches a good sanding to remove the roughness. A first pass with 100-grit paper knocks down the roughness quickly, while a followup with 150-grit gives a nice, smooth surface. While you’re at it, it’s a good idea to lightly sand the edges of both the tabletop and bench seat boards, as well. Another benefit of sanding the top of the table is that removing the roughness makes it easier to clean after your picnic.

Because cedar is naturally resistant to both weather and insects, no finish is really necessary. The table will last for many years as the color of the wood darkens to a silver-gray patina. If you’d like, however, an application of a sealer can extend the natural color a bit longer, and make it even easier to clean after picnicking. And if you like a darker appearance, you’re in luck: almost any sealer for outdoor wood darkens it. Any product for decks or other outside wood furniture, such as Thompson’s® Water-Seal®, does a good job.

The unique styling of this Mission-influenced picnic table will make your backyard the envy of the neighborhood. Ranger Smith would certainly approve.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

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It’s easy to be confused. Screws are undoubtedly the most versatile fasteners used in woodworking, but there are a lot of choices. Wood screws are handy for quickly building jigs and clamping forms, joining cabinet and furniture parts, mounting hardware and trim, and much more. Screws form strong connections between parts made from solid wood, plywood and other sheet goods without the need for cut joinery. From heads to drives, points to threads, platings to coatings, our author gives you a thorough education in the options available in the world of modern screws. or adhesives (and unlike glued joints, screws are removable, so you can take apart whatever you’ve built). Screws are also good for reinforcing parts assembled with traditional joinery — for example, pinning tenons in their mortises.

Choosing the right wood screw used to be simple pick a zinc or brass screw with the right size and length for the job at hand. But technological developments in construction and wood products manufacturing have spawned an extensive range of new screws in recent decades. There are so many choices, it’ll positively make your head spin!

I’ve written this article and shot this video to serve as a short primer on wood screws. Close examination of the various parts of a screw — the material it’s made from, the design of its head, drive style, point and threads, the platings and coatings that protect it from corrosion — will give you a better understanding of all the design and technology that goes into the manufacture
of every single screw. Hopefully, this exploration will better empower you the next time you need to choose the right screws for the project at hand.

Screw Types & Materials

Among the many materials wood screws are made from — brass, bronze, aluminum, etc. — steel screws are the most useful for woodworking and interior DIY projects. They’re strong, affordable and readily available in a vast range of sizes. But old-fashioned tapered steel wood screws can be a pain to use. Many woodworkers switched to inexpensive drywall screws when they became readily available a few decades ago. Made from harder steel that can penetrate wallboard and studs, drywall screws drive in quickly and without the need for predrilled pilot holes. However, they’re relatively brittle and will snap when subjected to high drive forces or stress, making them a poor choice for projects requiring strong construction.

Fortunately, a different kind of screw has largely replaced traditional tapered and drywall screws. “Production screws” have points and threads sharp and strong enough to penetrate the hardest woods and manmade materials — even some metals. Their heads and shanks are durable enough to withstand high torque delivered during driving with a power drill or impact driver, and can withstand the punishing stresses that screw joined furniture or cabinet parts may be subjected to. Hardened-steel screws with brands including GRK Fasteners, SPAX®, PowerPro and Saber Drive are often sold as “construction screws” or “multipurpose screws.”

Unless they’re specifically plated/coated for exterior use, hardened steel screws aren’t especially weather resistant, and they are best reserved for indoor projects. Deck screws are basically production screws that have been plated and/or coated to increase their corrosion resistance. They’re great for outdoor projects, like playhouses or decks. For even greater resistance to rust and corrosion, the two best screw materials are silicon bronze and stainless steel. Weaker than regular steel screws, chromium alloy stainless steel screws come in two popular grades: Grade 305 stainless is good for applications where coated deck screws don’t have sufficient corrosion resistance, while grade 316 (sometimes referred to as marine-grade stainless) are best for projects that are exposed to salt air or in areas where severe corrosion is likely to occur.

Head Type

Regardless of a screw’s material, size or length, the shape of its head has a significant impact in how well it works in any particular application. Head designs can be divided into two groups: those that sink flush with the work surface and those that stand proud of it. In the first group, trim head screws and bugle head screws have heads designed to automatically sink flush in all but the hardest materials (e.g., rosewood, ebony). Bugle head screws drive in quickly and have good holding power in most materials. Trim head screws are a good choice when you only need modest holding power and don’t want the head of the fastener to show too prominently. When driven into pre-drilled holes, they are a better choice than finish nails for setting door jambs or mounting trim and moldings: trim head screws are less likely to split thin or delicate wood parts.

Traditional flat and oval head screws lend a nice clean look to projects but require a conical recess for their heads drilled with a countersink. In contrast, most flat head production screws are self-countersinking: they create their own recess that allows the head to sit flush. Quickscrews’ unique “Funnel Head” screws, designed for use with veneered plywoods and coated sheet materials like melamine, have double serrations, with very fine teeth that cut into delicate surfaces without tearing them up.

Among the screw head types that sit proud of the work surface are traditional round head, pan head and cheese head (aka fillister head) screws. Each has a relatively small head with a flat bottom that bears against the surface of the workpiece. This offers a reasonable amount of hold in hardwoods, but in softer species, the smaller heads tend to crush the wood at the surface. When the joined pieces are stressed, the screw’s effective hold is reduced. Screws with larger heads offer more contact area with the work surface and a greater resistance to penetration and pull-through.

Truss head screws (aka “mushroom head” screws) have a head much like a metalworker’s pan head screw, only the overall head is flatter and larger in diameter. These are a great choice for mounting hardware such as drawer slides, where you want good contact with the hardware but need the screw head to not stick up too far. Washer head screws look like regular round head screws with small washers set under their heads. The added surface area on the underside of the head prevents them from sinking too deeply, especially when driven with power drivers.

Appropriately named “super washer head” screws have even larger diameter washer heads. They excel wherever two parts are joined but must remain adjustable, such as attaching a drawer front to a drawer box. Wafer head (and flanged head) screws have large, flat coin-like heads. Most wafer heads, including FastCap®’s “PowerHead” screws, are not only large, but are also very thin, giving them great retaining power and a low profile.

WATCH: VIDEO – WoodScrews 101

Drive Type

Unless they are building period-style furniture, few woodworkers still use traditional tapered wood screws with slotted heads, as they tend to slip off the screwdriver or driver bit and “cam out” easily, especially when driven with a cordless drill or impact driver.

However, many woodworkers still do use Phillips head screws, which came into production in the 1930s and became popular because their cross-slot recess automatically centers on the tip of the screwdriver. They do have a tendency to cam out, especially when used with power drivers. But a little-known fact is that Henry Phillips designed his screws to do this on purpose! To help speed up automobile production, the cam out helped prevent workers from over-tightening Phillips head screws with early power drivers, which lacked torque-limiting adjustability. Today’s woodworkers reduce the tendency to cam out by carefully setting the clutches on their power drivers. POZIDRIV®, a modern variant of the Phillips drive, was developed to retain centering while reducing caming out. It is a good choice for larger/longer screws that require lots of torque when driven into hard materials.

Although there are dozens of modern drive styles found on screw fasteners (hex, polydrive, spanner head, etc.), two have become particularly popular in recent decades: Robertson square and TORX® star drives. The square “Robertson” drive was developed in Canada in the early 1900s, but Peter L. Roberston’s reluctance to license his screws to industrial users (like Henry Ford) kept it from becoming popular in the United States. Only in recent decades have companies like online fastener retailer McFeely’s started marketing them to woodworkers. TORX drive screws, with a distinctive six-point star pattern, came out in the late ’60s and quickly became a popular production fastener used on everything from cars to motorcycles to consumer electronics. The majority of TORX-drive woodworking fasteners are deck screws, but the drive style is gaining popularity for general-purpose construction and cabinet screws, too. Robertson drivers come in six sizes, but #1 (green), #2 (red) and #3 (black) drivers are used for wood screws from size #3 to size #14. TORX drivers come in two dozen different sizes (T1 to T100), but T15, T20 and T25 drivers cover most common wood screws.

Both Robertson and TORX drives have two qualities that make them a great choice for woodworkers who use power drivers: stick fit and resistance to cam out. Stick fit is the ability of the driver bit and drive recess to form a temporary connection. Once you set a square or star drive screw on the tip of a drive bit, you can drive it without having to hold onto the screw. This not only frees up your extra hand, but it allows you to drive screws into all kinds of hard-to-reach places. TORX and Robertson drives both feature deep recesses into which the head of the driver fits snugly. The recess has near-vertical sidewalls, which means very little need for down pressure on the driver to keep it engaged. This not only significantly reduces the chance of cam out, but also reduces driver wear and damage.

Two other screw drive styles are worth mentioning: Pozisquare® and Outlaw drive. Pozisquare (aka combo drive) is a hybrid that combines a #2 Phillips and a #2 square drive in a single screw head recess. You can use either a Phillips or Robertson bit to drive them, but a special Pozisquare (combo) bit gives you better stick fit and cam out resistance. The new kid on the block, Outlaw Fasteners, raised more than $100k via Kickstarter and created their own line of unique deck screws. A three-tiered hexagonal head recess offers 18 points of contact for a super stick fit with virtually no cam out. In lieu of using their special driver, Outlaw screws can be driven with a regular hex driver.

Hiding or Covering up Screw Heads

Screws can provide a nice decorative detail on a project: imagine a row of shiny brass screws punctuating the edge of a walnut cabinet or a mahogany jewelry box. But when you don’t want screw heads to show, hiding them or covering them are both options. The simplest way to make flat head screws disappear is to set them into counterbored holes topped with flush-trimmed wood plugs that match the workpiece. You can drill pilot holes and counterbores in separate steps, or use a special bit that performs both tasks at once. Starborn Industries’ Pro Plug® system is a very nice kit designed to make the entire process quick and easy. It includes a special countersink/counterbore bit, a glue bottle tip designed for applying glue into the holes, screws and tapered wood plugs (available in a dozen different wood species).

If you’d rather enhance the presence of fasteners instead of entirely hiding them, decorative domed or button plugs or screw covers are the way to go. You can see a variety in the photo below. Decorative wood plugs glue into counterbored holes and can lend a nice detail while keeping screws hidden. Craftsman-style hole plugs (available from www.rockler.com) are sized to fit into 3/8″ holes, but they have square heads with pyramid-shaped tops that resemble the chiseled ends of small through tenons traditionally used in Mission style furniture. For modern style woodwork, try metal hole caps, available in various metallic finishes. I really like the look of black anodized aluminum plugs on a blond wood surface. Inexpensive and quick to install, FastCap plastic screw cap covers have small tabs that snap into the head recesses of square drive, flat head screws. White caps are perfect for camouflaging screws in melamine cabinets, and you can remove the caps if you need to disassemble the piece in the future.

Screw Points & Threads

A wood screw’s point and threads have a mighty big task to accomplish. They must pierce the surface of wood, then pull the screw in, without causing the wood to split or splinter. Once driven, the threads have to hold the screw firmly in the wood so that it doesn’t pull out or allow the parts it joins to separate, even if they’re stressed. An old-school tapered wood screw needs a pilot hole when driven into all but the softest materials: their points are relatively dull and their shallow threads don’t offer much holding power.

In contrast, production, construction and deck screws have very sharp points and threads that are larger in diameter than the shank of the screw itself. This enables them to penetrate most materials without the need for a pilot hole, which adds up to a huge time savings when installing them! There’s no area of wood screw development that’s seen more innovation in recent years than thread and point design. Let’s look at both features in depth:

The Point

A good screw point bites into non-pilot-drilled surfaces rapidly, pulling the screw down quickly and creating an entry hole for the screw’s shank and threads. The majority of production/construction/deck screws rely on a Type 17 auger point to get this job done. This needle-sharp point penetrates even the hardest materials — and your fingers, so be careful when handling them! A self-tapping flute just behind the point cuts a hole through the surface while channeling debris up the shank of the screw. This helps to pull the screw in while reducing outward pressure that can cause splits and bulges. In lieu of a fluted auger point, some SPAX construction screws feature a 4CUT point with a squarish end that pushes aside wood fibers as the screw is driven instead of cleaving them.

The Threads

Once the point has pulled a wood screw down into the material, it’s up to the threads to continue driving it the rest of the way in. Conventional wisdom has always been that screws with fine threads are best for hardwoods — oak, cherry, maple, birch, etc. — while coarse-threaded screws drive and hold better in softwoods, plywood and composite sheet goods (particleboard, MDF, etc.). However, newer thread designs have changed the rules and made many production/construction screws suitable for use in a wide range of materials and applications.

Some threads, including the QuickCutter, lead spiral and cross-cut threads, are designed to reduce the torque needed to drive the screw. In some specialized screw threads, a section of knurled shoulder thread, just above the regular thread of the screw, enlarges the hole slightly as the screw is driven, allowing the screw shank to turn more easily while helping to increase the clamping force between joined parts. Here are some of the newer thread designs and their intended advantages:

QuickCutter thread (Quickscrews production screws): Deep threads and an extra-long flute above the point.

Lead spiral thread (Quickscrews Funnel head screws): A spiral thread just above the tip pulls the screw into the wood quickly.

Cross-cut thread (Power Pro outdoor wood screws): A dual thread design with a standard outer thread and an inner thread that helps reduce friction at the root of the screw.

Hi-Lo thread (Rockler Hi-lo screws; Kreg® Hi-lo pocket-hole screws): A dualthread screw with a coarser, sharper outer thread and a finer inner thread. Creates a multipurpose screw that offers good holding power and less strip-out in all woods and sheet goods.

CEE thread (GRK R4 and RSS screws; Outlaw deck screws): A knurled shoulder just above the regular thread of the screw.

Reverse thread section (Starborn Cap-Tor xd deck screws): A section of reversed thread just under the head of the deck screw helps prevent dimpling and mushrooming (raised area around the screw head). A similar reverse thread on SPAX stainless steel wood deck screws helps prevent the screw from backing out as the lumber dries out.

Euro screw thread: Melamine, particleboard, and MDF are notorious for their poor holding power when joined with regular screws. In the 1970s, German hardware manufacturer Hafele introduced Confirmat oversized screws specifically for building ready-toassemble Euro-style furniture and cabinets. Confirmat (or similar Firmit) fasteners act like threaded steel dowels, forming a strong, stiff butt joint between parts.

W-Cut thread (GRK RSS and Cabinet screws) and Serrated thread (Saberdrive and SPAX screws): A saw-like serrated edge cut into the threads designed to slice through wood like a circular saw blade.

Plating and Coatings

In the final step of manufacturing, most steel wood screws receive some kind of plating (a metallurgical process done to bare metal screws) or coating (applied to either bare metal screws or already-plated screws). Screws are plated and/or coated for three reasons.

1. Prevent Corrosion

Regular steel screws rust quickly when exposed to moisture. Plating not only helps keep the screw itself from rusting, but prevents rust that forms on the screw from staining the wood around it. The most common plating on wood screws is bright zinc, largely a decorative finish that provides only a small amount of corrosion resistance. Zinc screws can develop a dull white corrosion (“white rust”) unless protected with a clear coating or a colored chromate, such as yellow zinc. Bright golden yellow zinc screws have more corrosion resistance than bright zinc, so this coating is common on construction screws. Black oxide (black phosphorous) plating prevents steel screws from rust staining wood, but offers little protection against serious corrosion.

Galvanizing processes, e.g., electroplating and hot dipping, have traditionally provided screws with the best protection against rust, but modern deck and construction screws are also available with high-tech coatings or plating/coating combinations for outdoor environments:

Blue-Kote (Kreg pocket-hole screws): Blue screws with three anti-corrosion layers; weather-resistant.

NoCoRode PLUS Pro-Master wood screws (sold by McFeely’s): almost 20 times more corrosion-resistant than standard yellow zinc plating; work well with most outdoor woods.

Epoxy Coated: Starborn’s Deckfast® Epoxy Coated screws provide corrosion resistance and come in four colors (gray, green, red and tan) to match treated lumber.

Climatek: A GRK coating consisting of six layers of zinc and polymers; approved for use with highly corrosive pressure-treated lumber.

HCR: SPAX “high corrosion resistance” screws have a dual barrier coating system with an electrically applied substrate and a proprietary organic topcoat designed to extend the longevity of the screw even when used with treated lumber.

Weather Maxx Bronze Ceramic Coat: Power Pro brand screws with multiple layers of zinc and polymer-based coatings. Recommended for use with ACQ, CA and CCA treated lumber, plus cedar and redwood where they won’t stain the wood.

2. Enhance Appearance

Other color choices are available besides silvery bright zinc. Brass-plated screws mimic solid brass screws but are stronger and cost less. Black oxide plated screws’ look works well with contemporary style projects.

To help hide fasteners without counterboring and plugging, some screws come with heads coated with epoxy paint. White or sand (tan) heads match the color of white or almond melamine sheet material. Starborn’s HEADCOTE® stainless-steel screws have heads colored to match commonly used decking lumber as well as PVC and composite materials.

3. Reduce Friction

The better the surface lubricity of a screw, the easier it is to drive and the less power it takes to drive it in. Slippery screws are also less likely to cam out, break or get stuck when they encounter knots or dense grain.

You can lubricate screws yourself by rubbing them with candle or beeswax before driving them, but it’s much easier to buy screws already treated with a lubricating coating. Berenson coats both their plain and zinc-plated screws with a thin wax coating, which reduces friction and leaves no residue. Square-X Drive screws and Highpoint screws have specially formulated dry coatings that make them easier to drive while preventing surface corrosion (they’re recommended for interior applications only). For outdoor projects, FastenMaster TrussLOK® construction screws have an anti-friction topcoat applied over their corrosion-resistant epoxy coating.

Watch the VIDEO: Wood Screws 101

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In some cases, a spindle may have four sides left square. Most table legs have a section at the top called the “pommel,” left square to accept the aprons. Some table and chair legs also have square sections near the bottom to accept stretchers.

Most newel posts have a square section at the top to accept the railing, and also a section at the bottom to accept a rail into which the balusters are mortised. Turned bedposts need a square section into which the rails are mortised or bolted.

On wingnuts, ratchet paws and other mechanical parts; wooden forks and spoons; and tool handles, you will often find two sides flat.

One side may be flat on a chair stretcher, to serve as a footrest, or on the plug for the mouthpiece of whistles and recorder flutes.

These variations on the theme are what I call “flat round” work.

Work Sharp

In turning spindles that have portions left square or flat, the importance of sharp tools cannot be overemphasized! Spindle tools, like the roughing-out gouge, spindle gouge, skew chisel and beading and parting tools, have to be just as sharp as bench tools, with long bevels in severe 25° to 30° angles. Tools that are less than keen and/or have short bevels will make leaving flat or square portions much more difficult by causing ragged and chipped edges.

In flat/round work, precise layout saves time and material. It is the key to getting everything right the first time around. Jointed stock that is cut to uniform squares or rectangles is imperative.

For spindles with areas left square, it is just a matter of accurate centering on each end when mounting the blank. The easiest way to accomplish this is by scribing diagonal lines between the corners. This method works equally well with slightly rectangular stock.

For things like screwdriver handles or forks and spoons, using a marking gauge and dividers is the surest way to find center on both ends.

Lathe Speed

Enough, but not too much, speed on the lathe helps greatly in making the transitions from square to round. For 2″ square and smaller spindles, 1,000 to 1,800 rpm is appropriate; however, the higher end of this spectrum is for the experienced turner with a heavy lathe.

The beginner, using a lighter lathe, is well advised to stay closer to the 1,000 rpm speeds. For 4″ square and larger spindles, speeds between 500 and 800 rpm are better, depending on lathe and experience.

The Transition

The difficult part of leaving an area square focuses on the shoulders, where the transition occurs. This transition can take three different basic forms. (You can watch me make these three cuts in my More on the Web video.) As with learning any new technique, practice makes perfect, and testing these various forms is best done on scrap lumber rather than on your prized stock intended for project use.

Shouldering the Burden: The Most Difficult Area

It only stands to reason that if you have a flat area on a round spindle, there is an area where the round changes to flat (or vice versa). This is called a transition, and there are three basic ways to form the transition — each can be modified to suit the turner’s aesthetic.

A hard square shoulder transition is most commonly encountered in table and chair legs. The best tool for this is the skew, presented with the toe down and the edge absolutely vertical. The handle must be angled such that the appropriate bevel is 90˚ to the work, making it kiss the shoulder throughout the cut.

For a half bead shoulder, the cut is made with a spindle gouge after first making a square face with a skew. It is a half bead, rolled mostly on air. It makes an elegant transition and is used mostly on table legs, bedposts, new posts and balusters. It is helpful to draw a pencil line a set distance from the square face to give yourself a starting point.

The cut for a half cove shoulder is done entirely with a sharp spindle gouge. It differs from a half bead cut only in that it is a cove instead of a bead. Either is cut mostly on air. The trick is to start with the handle low and touch the bevel of the gouge to the work. Slowly bring the handle up until the edge just cuts. Now, roll the bead.

Safety Consideration

For some flat work, such as salad forks, it is often easier and safer to use the band saw to remove excess material. Square and flat work well advised to stop the lathe when moving the tool-rest or the banjo. And for the same reasons, it is a good idea to completely remove the toolrest during sanding.

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Projects

Picnic Table: This outdoor dining option brings the flavor of the Mission furniture style to the outdoors

Easy-to-Build Benches: Adapt the basic structure of this bench to a size that fits your need: for adults or children, indoors or out

Greene & Greene-Inspired Nightstand:  Chris Marshall continues a Greene and Greene bedroom set with a custom nightstand that incorporates vacuum bagging for the side panels’ special quartersawn veneer

Translucent-Screen Shutters: Millwork and modular construction make it easy to produce parts for this interior window covering

Techniques

Woodturning: Some spindles have flat spots – Flat/Round Turning

Using Trangles as a Tool for Accurate Angle Cuts on the Table Saw

Finishing: Water-based finishes and stains – better than before

Reviews

Today’s Shop: Sandor Nagyszalanczy educates you in the best options – and the best choices – in modern screw technology, with the latest developments in heads, drives, points, threads, platings, coatings and more.

Tool Preview: The Leigh RTJ400 Router Table Dovetail Jig produces up to a dozen dovetail and box joint sizes with quick setups, repeatability and minimal fuss.

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See more about their restoration project see the video of the project here.

Learn more about the Greater Lowell Veterans Council and their work.

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The post How to Cut Notches for a Mission-style Picnic Table appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Choosing the right wood screw used to be simple, but technological developments in construction and wood products manufacturing have spawned an extensive range of new screws in recent decades. There are so many choices, it’ll positively make your head spin! Sandor Nagyszalanczy offers a brief overview of the history, features and advantages of modern production screws. Looking for more information about wood screws? Read the complete article about wood screws here.

The post VIDEO: Wood Screws 101 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.