Disclosure: Leigh is one of my sponsors; I am never paid for promoting the use of their products. I sometimes receive tools, for evaluation purposes. I never receive or accept cash, or any other form of payment, from Leigh or any other of my sponsors, for the reviews I do.

I want to share the announcement, because it might save you a little cash — the price increase is effective September 1, 2010:

Super Jig 12″ Dovetail Jig: The 12 ” Super Jig list price will increase to $275 from $259

Super Jig 18″ Dovetail Jig: The 18″ Super Jig list price will increase to $375 from $359

Super FMT Mortise & Tenon Jig: The Super FMT Jig list price will increase to $499 from $449

FMT Pro Mortise & Tenon Jig: The FMT Pro Mortise & Tenon Jig list price will increase to $989 from $929

In the announcement, Leigh stated:

Fortunately, we have been able to hold our prices steady on 95% of our product line for the Fall 2010 season. However, the US and Canadian list price of the following four products will increase effective September 1, 2010.

If you have been on the fence about buying one of the jigs, now might be the time to do it. I have been a very happy user of several of the Leigh jigs for many years; they are an essential part of work in my shop.

Request: If you buy one of the jigs, take the time to learn its use. Have plenty scrap on hand, and learn the ins and outs — you will be glad to did. However, this might result in dreams about jig setup and use (not bad for critical projects).

— Al Navas

Make sure to visit the Isoloc web page to read the details. In case you are not familiar with the look of this joint, I invite you to look at the Isoloc Photo Gallery page, and click on each of the four links to go to each of the photo pages. In the meantime, maybe I can entice you look, with the following:

From the Leigh "fancy" Isoloc web page.

Disclosure: Leigh is a sponsor of my blog. I am never paid for promoting the use of their products. I sometimes do receive tools, for evaluation purposes.

— Al Navas

Background:

It starts with a full-size drawing on a piece of 1/4-inch plywood – doing so allows you to adjust the arch radius, etc.:

Laying out the curves for the full-size drawing was interesting – but I found an easy way to zero in on the trammel length I would need. First, large calipers, to get the curves to look “right”:

Then I made a simple trammel with a hole large enough to allow the pencil tip draw two lines, the rough outline of the leg and stretcher thickness:

Using the trammel set for the radius in the full-size drawing, I drew the curves on a piece of 1/2″ thick MDF, and cut the curve on the band saw – THIS will become the “master”, from which all curves will derive:

Before continuing, it was necessary to smooth the edges, to finish the MDF boards with these “master” curves – I made a flexible sanding block, and sanded until happy with the curvature:

The other side of the master mold receives the same treatment:

After transferring the smooth outlines to 3/4″ MDF, I cut close to the line, and used a pattern router bit to make exact duplicates of the “master” curves:

The first set of curves on the 3/4-inch MDF becomes the pattern from which all others are made. It took several copies to make the mold to create the curves, but I was finally ready to use the mold – here is one-half of the mold, as I prepare to apply cork and tape over the cork – each new piece is screwed on to the previous one, to keep all pieces perfectly aligned – they are stacked and screwed to the previous one, then the edge is smoothed at the router table, until the desired width is obtained:

Cork is required to smooth the slightest imperfections in the curve:

Pressure is applied to smooth the glued cork on the mold halves:

Tape is then applied on top of the cork, to allow the glue to release from the mold without damaging either the mold or the work piece:

Now that the mold halves are done, it is time to resaw the pieces to be laminated:

Mix, and apply Unibond 800 on the surfaces to be laminated – this glue has a long open time, which makes very nice for this, and for veneering applications:

NOW is the time to use the mold simply insert the pieces that will become the bent lamination:

Allow the glue to cure under clamp pressure, and remove from the mold after allowing the glue to cure overnight:

After cleaning one edge, and maybe even running one edge over the jointer blades, clean up the other edge on the band saw:

It will be necessary to use a block plane (or YOUR favorite tool) to do a final clean-up of the edges:

Cleaning up the edges.

Thanks for staying with me for the entire process – enjoy! And please let me know if I goofed up something in the process.

— Al Navas

]]> http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/06/22/tutorial-how-to-make-the-mold-for-the-curvy-legs-on-the-little-table/feed/ 4 http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/06/01/half-blind-finger-joints-using-the-f3-template/ http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/06/01/half-blind-finger-joints-using-the-f3-template/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:06:44 +0000 Al Navas http://sandal-woodsblog.com/?p=8455 In a recent article about the F3, I made regular (“through”) finger joints using the new F3 template mounted on my old D4 jig. In this episode I show how I made half-blind finger joints quickly and accurately.

I skip the details of the basic setup; however, I do cover the steps required to ensure a tight joint, as follows:

1. Always use scraps when making adjustments — don’t sacrifice project wood, especially if you are using exotic woods
2. Minimize or eliminate turning the router in any way — doing so is the best way to mess up the joint fit
3. Always push the router through the template fingers in a straight line — just another way of saying #2 above
4. Make adjustments to the fit in small increments of the e-Bush; using calipers I am able to get the final fit in two tries

In the closeups in the video, you will notice that the router base moves in a straight line. I concentrated on this, to ensure the best joint fit. Because the e-Bush is elliptical, rotation of the router as the cut is made will cause the fit to vary.

You can access the F3 User Guide at this link. This document is also the guide for all the new finger joint templates made by Leigh. The procedure for half-blind finger joints starts on Page 17 (Chapter 7).

Now, the video – lots of router action, to emphasize the items 1-4, above:

Download this video in Quicktime format
(In Windows, Right-click | Save Link As…)
Duration: 16:23 minutes
File size: 279 MB

Let me know if you use a finger joint jig of any kind:

• Do you make boxes with finger joints? If you do:

1. Do you make finger joints with help of a shop-made jig?
2. Do you use a commercial jig or template to make finger joints?
3. If you use a commercial jig, which one?

I look forward to your comments.

Acknowledgement: My thanks to my friend, Jason Riley, Professional Guitarist, for allowing me to use his music in my videos. Jason lives in St Joseph, Missouri, USA.

Disclosure: Leigh Industries is a sponsor of this blog. On occasion, I receive tools and jig templates for evaluation; and I maintain total editorial freedom of the reviews I present on the blog. Plain and simple, I never receive or accept cash for anything I review.

— Al Navas

I will soon have a video on using the F3 to make half-blind finger joints. Yup, half-blind finger joints. If you have never seen these made, please come back, or monitor the happenings on the blog by subscribing to the feed or to the e-mail notifications.

From the Leigh web site’s Square Finger Joints Gallery:

From the Leigh web site's Square Finger Joints Gallery.

— Al Navas

I love to make boxes; as a result, the D4 jig I bought many years ago has always been the workhorse in the shop. This has always meant that until now all my boxes used dovetail joinery – through dovetails, inlaid dovetails, sliding dovetails, half-blind dovetails. The F3 will make it very easy to make boxes with finger joints; now I will make them very, very easily.

The F3 mounts on the D4, and replaces the dovetail finger assembly completely. That is what the 15-second opening sequence of the video at the bottom of this article is about. Simply remove the dovetail finger assembly, and replace it with the F3. What could be simpler than that? Step-by-step, the following is what I did:

1. Replace the dovetail finger assembly with the F3 finger assembly
2. Install the e7 e-Bush on the router; select a setting of 5 to start the test cuts
3. Select board width for a box around 4 inches tall; rip to final width, per the board width selection guide on page 12 of the User Guide
4. Test boards, to test the finger joint fit: Make the first tests at a setting of 5 on the e-Bush; make sure to run the guidebush on both sides of each template opening, to get even cuts on each finger on the boards
5. Adjust the joint fit by rotating the e-Bush as needed; each division adjusts the joint fit by 0.002″
6. I found that a maximum of three tests was required to fine tune the perfect fit.

For purposes of this first video on the F3, I made a box using symmetrical box joints. This means that two of the boards have pins on the side edges, and two have sockets on the side edges, like the two boards in the back in the following image (I copied the following image from the 15.9-MB F3 User Guide):

F3 symmetrical vs. asymmetrical joints.

To make the symmetrical joints, the User Guide includes on page 12 a chart that simplifies the process of selecting board width, for optimum finger placement:

F3 board width selection chart.

One important thing to remember when making this joint: After cutting the joint on the ends, the boards are rotated end-over-end, not clockwise or counter-clockwise. This maintains the symmetry.

Using this chart: I decided I wanted to make a 5/16″ symmetrical joint. The maple boards I had on hand were just over 4 inches wide. From the chart, and circled in red, I determined that the boards would have a total of 11 fingers, and the exact width required would be 3-17/32″. I ripped the boards to that width, and it worked beautifully! But you will have to watch the video below to confirm this.

Disclosure: Leigh Industries is a sponsor of this blog. On occasion, I receive tools and jig templates for evaluation; and I maintain total editorial freedom of the reviews I present on the blog. Plain and simple, I never receive or accept cash for anything I review.

The F3 finger joint template — symmetrical joints
Download this video in Quicktime format
(In Windows, Right-click | Save Link As…)
Duration: 28:29 minutes
File size: 248 MB

I would love to hear from you how you cut the finger joints for the boxes you make:

• Do you use hand tools?
• Do you use a dedicated jig?
• Do you make the joints on a table saw or on a router table?

Acknowledgment: Music courtesy Jason Riley, professional guitarist, St Joseph, Missouri, USA. I selected Track #8 in the Outtakes CD – It is Prelude in D, by J.S. Bach).

— Al Navas

You must send in the original purchase receipt, accompanied by a special form you will find at this page.

Details: (from the Leigh web site)

Finger Joint Templates for the D4R Pro & D-series Jigs
Finger joints are very strong, aesthetically pleasing and easy to produce. Add the F3 Finger Joint Template to your D4R Pro or any 24″ D-series jig and rout perfect finger joints in minutes.

Finger Joint Templates for 18″ and 24″ Super Jigs
Super Jig Finger Joint Templates add incredible joinery options to any 18″or 24″ Super Jig. Add 8 more sizes of finger/box joints and adjust the fit precisely with the patented Leigh e-Bush.

Finger Joint Template for the D1600
Just attach the F1600 Finger Joint Template to your D1600 Jig and rout perfect finger joints every time. The F1600 Template uses the patented Leigh Variable Guidebush System (VGS) for exacting fit adjustment.

Disclosure: Leigh is a sponsor of this blog.

— Al Navas

]]> http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/05/01/leigh-has-new-finger-joint-templates/feed/ 0 http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/04/12/getting-ready-to-install-the-top-on-the-stand-up-desk/ http://sandal-woodsblog.com/2010/04/12/getting-ready-to-install-the-top-on-the-stand-up-desk/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:54:18 +0000 Al Navas http://sandal-woodsblog.com/?p=7909 In an earlier article I showed a great tip to edge-join two boards at a precise 7.6° angle:

The test joint used to test angle.

The jig is simplicity itself: one ¼-inch thick plywood piece is raised on one end by a narrow board; the distance of the narrow board is adjusted back and forth until the angle is dialed in, using the Dixey digital angle gauge:

Jig to cut biscuit slots, offset 1/4-inch, angled at 3.8°

In the photo above, the offset of the biscuits is obtained with the “show” surface down, such that the biscuits are closer to what will be the bottom side of the desk top. This ensures the cut stays far from the show surface. The biscuits are used strictly to align the edges in the glue-up of the large desk top.

In the next photo, the test boards are under full clamp pressure – even without glue, the boards remain in perfect alignment:

The test boards hold under full clamp power!

I wondered about alignment at the edges of the board; alignment also help perfectly:

Test boards clamped - and the biscuits hold.

The edge-to-edge alignment is so good, that the glue-line-to-be disappears – can you spot it in this next photo?

The scraped joint - can you see it?

It will be essential to hold down the desk top, while allowing wood movement as changes in moisture content take place. For this desk I use figure 8s installed in blocks of quarter-sawn white oak glued to the aprons:

Figure 8s to secure the desk top.

Using a number of figure 8s will ensure the top stays in place:

Almost ready to accept the top!

The time finally came to glue up the top. Glued and clamped, then carefully aligned to registration marks on the side aprons, the glue-up went well:

The top glued and clamped.

The liquid hide glue gives excellent open time, allowing for proper glue distribution and edge alignment:

Just enough squeeze-out.

I am very pleased with the results. Once again, my thanks to Sandy for her help with this glue-up! I will scrape the top, do some finish scraping and/or sanding, and then start the finishing process.

— Al Navas

I was ready to make the 90° cut on the glued-up desk top, to separate the board that aligns with the backs of the legs on the desk. But at the last minute I chickened out, to think it over. Something did not seem right; should it be a 90° cut? Or should it be something else?

A little background: From an old blog entry, the following photograph shows the relatively narrow width of the board that will at the back of the desk top – it is the flat area where the clamp is located. It will be just over 6-1/2 inches wide from the back of legs to the point where the slope starts toward the front of the desk:

The angled top area.

The more I though about it, a 90° cut did not seen the right thing to do. I decided to get a second opinion from Rick, one of the master cabinetmakers in the area, and a member of our Guild; he is the guy who showed us a new way to fold a band saw blade at a recent Guild meeting. Very quickly he zeroed in on why the cut must be something other than 90°: regardless which side gets the right angle cut, one of the boards will end up a little “thick” (proud), relative to the other. Rick suggested that each side should get the same identical bevel cut. That was it!

The second part of my dilemma had to do with what kind of jig to use to assemble the desk top during glue-up. A little more discussion ensued, and Rick suggested the desk frame itself would be THE best jig available (of course!), with a few biscuits inserted on edge to assist with alignment. This will be one of the few times I use biscuits to assist with edge alignment.

It was time for some test cuts. I spent yesterday with some test boards, zeroing in on the angle. I had originally determined the angle indirectly, by simply measuring the back and front heights of a very old stand-up desk. From those measurements, the slope toward the front is approximately 7°. I used a cheap metal protractor to mark the angles for the aprons and the divider I cut on the table saw. But for the desk top I needed to be right on the angle. Test cuts at 3.5° on each of two boards were not quite right. Additional cuts helped me zero in on the perfect angle of 7.6° total, or 3.8° for each cut. How was this accuracy possible on the table saw? The Wixey Digital Angle Gauge, of course!

In the following photo I show the results of the test cuts at 3.8°, with the test boards set on the apron, and no clamps used for to hold the boards together:

The test angle cuts.

I inspected the aprons under the boards, to make sure that at this angle the boards would be flush with the aprons. It worked.

Now that I know the angle, I will make a very simple jig to cut the biscuit slots accurately. Once the slots are cut on both sides, it will be time to make the final cuts on the boards that will make the desk top.

— Al Navas

For the entire month of April, you get the free router bit set if you buy a D4R Pro dovetail jig. For all details, please go to this Leigh web page.

Edit to add (per the latest e-mail from Leigh):

The best dovetail jig on the market just got better! The immensely capable D4R Dovetail jig is now the D4R Pro. Along with the new name comes two exciting new features; the ability to rout 5 sizes of Single Pass Dovetails and 2 sizes of box joints….all with the standard finger assembly.

A little background: Several years ago, a long time before Leigh became my sponsor, I bought the D4 dovetail jig. Back then, these specials were rare – but now YOU can take advantage of these deals! I have always been a happy user of the D4. It is the workhorse in my shop when I have dovetails to cut on a project.

Disclaimer: Leigh Industries is one of the sponsors of this blog.

Here’s How It Works! During the month of April 2010, buy a Leigh D4R Pro (formerly D4R) Dovetail Jig from your favorite woodworking tool store and mail your original receipt to Leigh Industries. Leigh will send the 12-piece bit set (Item 2411-8) for the D4R Pro, absolutely free! That’s a $169.00 value! → Be sure to fill the information in the form provided at the page linked to the image below:

— Al Navas

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