Article
JAN/FEB
2003
Volume 46/Issue 1
IN
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Classic Rolltop Desk
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Should
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Copyright
2003.
Shopsmith, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Making
Multiples
Here
are several time-honored “secrets” used by the Old-Timers
to save hours of work when making several of the same project.
Printer
friendly PDF copy of article
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| Fig 2: To “Pad Saw” your components, stack several pieces of thin stock on top of one another, tape them together and cut them all at once. |
Pad sawing (See Fig 2) is another technique that will dramatically increase your productivity. Start by stacking a number of boards on top of one another and taping them together with regular masking tape or a special double-faced, carpet-style tape. Be sure your stack isn't thicker than your Bandsaw or Scroll Saw's maximum depth-of-cut. Then, once your boards are taped together, trace your pattern onto the top piece and start cutting. Make your cut slightly outside of your pattern line so you can then Disc Sand or Drum Sand your pieces to their final dimension. This process is much faster than cutting each thin piece separately...plus...your pieces will be more consistent and accurate, as well. NOTE: If you're going to be Drum Sanding or Drilling your stack of components once they're cut out, be careful not to make your stacks any higher than your Drum sander is high...or your Drill Bit is long.
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| Fig 3: Use a fixed taper jig to cut duplicate tapers without measuring each board. |
Some projects call for cutting tapers. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first is to make and use a fixed taper jig such as the one shown in Fig 3. This jig is used by dropping your workpiece into a cutout area, then guiding the jig's straight side against your Bandsaw or Table Saw Rip Fence.
The second way to cut tapers is with an
Adjustable Taper Guide such as the one shown in Fig 4. Since these Guides are fairly large, they're best used for cutting larger workpieces on Table Saws.
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| Fig 4: An Adjustable Taper Guide in use. |
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| Fig 5: Use the Drum Sanding Jig with your master pattern to sand duplicate shapes accurately. |
Belt or Disc Sanders are great for sanding flat surfaces or corners, but what about concave curves? This is when you need a Drum Sander. However, freehand drum sanding often won't give you the accuracy you need. The Drum Sanding jig shown in Fig 5 will give you the accuracy to sand whatever you need, quickly and accurately. Make the jig by making an auxiliary table top from a sheet of 1/2" to 3/4" thick plywood or hardboard that you can clamp to your Worktable Top. Make a circular disc from a piece of 1/4" hardboard that's exactly the same diameter as your Drum Sander (This disc should be the same, exact thickness as your pattern - if your pattern is 1/8" thick, the Disc should be 1/8" thick). Screw this disc to your auxiliary table top, near the center, then clamp this entire assembly to your Worktable surface so the disc is in perfect alignment with the bottom of your Drum Sander.
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| Fig 6: The Stop Block eliminates the need for you to mark each hole individually before you drill. |
Tape your workpiece to your pattern, using double-stick tape. Guide your pattern against the disc, sanding your workpiece to the exact size and shape.
In addition to cutting and sanding, drilling is another operation that can be streamlined for efficiency. When you need to drill a hole in exactly the same place on a large number of workpieces, use a Stop Block. The block can be attached to your Rip Fence and used in either the Vertical Drill Press or Horizontal Boring Machine mode, as shown in Fig 6.
