Virtual Designs in Sketchup

rance said:

3 Legged Workbench

So you've built this elaborate workbench, the 'Workbench of your Dreams'. With a Rock Maple top, Paduk edging and all the dog holes anyone could ever ask for (to go with the donuts). You have a difficult time positioning it because it weighs 400 lbs. THEN you realize, although you've taken every precaution to make sure all four legs are level and of equal length, the bench thinks its a Rock Star in its new home, your newly finished workshop. It ROCKS, but NOT in a good way.

How many times has this story become a realization? Well, Why not build a 3 legged workbench? I Googled around and the ones I could find were just 3 legged versions of the same ole rectangular benches. These seem to present a new problem with the bench tipping when you happen to be hand-planing in the wrong direction. Particularly working near, or on, the end with one leg.

So I present to you, the 'Triangle Workbench'. Actually 'A' Triangle Workbench.

It looks weird. Mostly because we are not used to seeing them in the modern(or old) workshops. How about we dress it up with an old-school vise & bench dog holes.

Yes, even though I don't profess to use many hand-tools, I believe it should have a certain draw from folks that do use them. True to form for many of those traditional benches, I've built it with the medium-length face even with the edge of the bench for clamping large items (such as a door) to the front two legs.

I've also provided the longest edge with an overhang to aid in the clamping of workpieces to the top of the bench.

Now on to some fun details. As part of the design of the front edge, I wanted to add some bracing for those two legs. Well, as it turns out, that bracing just so happens to make for a nice tool tray on the side. No, its not too traditional, but it could be useful. I've added a small lip to keep chisels from rolling out. (Leg and apron hidden for clarity)

Here's a couple of views from above with the top removed. I temporarilly colored the legs charcoal gray so you could see them a little better

This is another place where a drawing package can shine over just a napkin drawing. You can size and draw the known dimensions for most parts, then you can add an angled piece and have the application(in this case SketchUp) tell YOU what the angles or dimensions are.

I've built this virtual one for your pondering. Maybe it will inspire someone to try one out for themselves. I've built this one with the 3-4-5 triangle in mind. You might also be interested in building two of them and placing them back to back with the long edges facing each other.

Feel free to build it up. shoot the idea down, or offer suggestions or alterations. That's just one of the neat things about building 'virtual' projects, whether in SU or your own 3D design tool. It gives you the chance to make all(well, many) of your mistakes on the computer screen rather than with possibly expensive materials.

Disclaimer: I'm positive there are folks that have broached this subject in the past, but they sure aren't very prevalent when I searched for them. If you find some, feel free to share the picture with others.

.

EDIT:

Per a new LJ's request, here are the dimensions for this bench as it was designed. I still believe it could use some improvement. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

rance said:

3 Legged Workbench

So you've built this elaborate workbench, the 'Workbench of your Dreams'. With a Rock Maple top, Paduk edging and all the dog holes anyone could ever ask for (to go with the donuts). You have a difficult time positioning it because it weighs 400 lbs. THEN you realize, although you've taken every precaution to make sure all four legs are level and of equal length, the bench thinks its a Rock Star in its new home, your newly finished workshop. It ROCKS, but NOT in a good way.

How many times has this story become a realization? Well, Why not build a 3 legged workbench? I Googled around and the ones I could find were just 3 legged versions of the same ole rectangular benches. These seem to present a new problem with the bench tipping when you happen to be hand-planing in the wrong direction. Particularly working near, or on, the end with one leg.

So I present to you, the 'Triangle Workbench'. Actually 'A' Triangle Workbench.

It looks weird. Mostly because we are not used to seeing them in the modern(or old) workshops. How about we dress it up with an old-school vise & bench dog holes.

Yes, even though I don't profess to use many hand-tools, I believe it should have a certain draw from folks that do use them. True to form for many of those traditional benches, I've built it with the medium-length face even with the edge of the bench for clamping large items (such as a door) to the front two legs.

I've also provided the longest edge with an overhang to aid in the clamping of workpieces to the top of the bench.

Now on to some fun details. As part of the design of the front edge, I wanted to add some bracing for those two legs. Well, as it turns out, that bracing just so happens to make for a nice tool tray on the side. No, its not too traditional, but it could be useful. I've added a small lip to keep chisels from rolling out. (Leg and apron hidden for clarity)

Here's a couple of views from above with the top removed. I temporarilly colored the legs charcoal gray so you could see them a little better

This is another place where a drawing package can shine over just a napkin drawing. You can size and draw the known dimensions for most parts, then you can add an angled piece and have the application(in this case SketchUp) tell YOU what the angles or dimensions are.

I've built this virtual one for your pondering. Maybe it will inspire someone to try one out for themselves. I've built this one with the 3-4-5 triangle in mind. You might also be interested in building two of them and placing them back to back with the long edges facing each other.

Feel free to build it up. shoot the idea down, or offer suggestions or alterations. That's just one of the neat things about building 'virtual' projects, whether in SU or your own 3D design tool. It gives you the chance to make all(well, many) of your mistakes on the computer screen rather than with possibly expensive materials.

Disclaimer: I'm positive there are folks that have broached this subject in the past, but they sure aren't very prevalent when I searched for them. If you find some, feel free to share the picture with others.

.

EDIT:

Per a new LJ's request, here are the dimensions for this bench as it was designed. I still believe it could use some improvement. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

rance said:

3 Legged Workbench

So you've built this elaborate workbench, the 'Workbench of your Dreams'. With a Rock Maple top, Paduk edging and all the dog holes anyone could ever ask for (to go with the donuts). You have a difficult time positioning it because it weighs 400 lbs. THEN you realize, although you've taken every precaution to make sure all four legs are level and of equal length, the bench thinks its a Rock Star in its new home, your newly finished workshop. It ROCKS, but NOT in a good way.

How many times has this story become a realization? Well, Why not build a 3 legged workbench? I Googled around and the ones I could find were just 3 legged versions of the same ole rectangular benches. These seem to present a new problem with the bench tipping when you happen to be hand-planing in the wrong direction. Particularly working near, or on, the end with one leg.

So I present to you, the 'Triangle Workbench'. Actually 'A' Triangle Workbench.

It looks weird. Mostly because we are not used to seeing them in the modern(or old) workshops. How about we dress it up with an old-school vise & bench dog holes.

Yes, even though I don't profess to use many hand-tools, I believe it should have a certain draw from folks that do use them. True to form for many of those traditional benches, I've built it with the medium-length face even with the edge of the bench for clamping large items (such as a door) to the front two legs.

I've also provided the longest edge with an overhang to aid in the clamping of workpieces to the top of the bench.

Now on to some fun details. As part of the design of the front edge, I wanted to add some bracing for those two legs. Well, as it turns out, that bracing just so happens to make for a nice tool tray on the side. No, its not too traditional, but it could be useful. I've added a small lip to keep chisels from rolling out. (Leg and apron hidden for clarity)

Here's a couple of views from above with the top removed. I temporarilly colored the legs charcoal gray so you could see them a little better

This is another place where a drawing package can shine over just a napkin drawing. You can size and draw the known dimensions for most parts, then you can add an angled piece and have the application(in this case SketchUp) tell YOU what the angles or dimensions are.

I've built this virtual one for your pondering. Maybe it will inspire someone to try one out for themselves. I've built this one with the 3-4-5 triangle in mind. You might also be interested in building two of them and placing them back to back with the long edges facing each other.

Feel free to build it up. shoot the idea down, or offer suggestions or alterations. That's just one of the neat things about building 'virtual' projects, whether in SU or your own 3D design tool. It gives you the chance to make all(well, many) of your mistakes on the computer screen rather than with possibly expensive materials.

Disclaimer: I'm positive there are folks that have broached this subject in the past, but they sure aren't very prevalent when I searched for them. If you find some, feel free to share the picture with others.

.

EDIT:

Per a new LJ's request, here are the dimensions for this bench as it was designed. I still believe it could use some improvement. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

rance said:

Corner Splines Without a Tablesaw

I've seen questions here on LJ asking how to cut accurate splines with weapons other than a table saw. The obvious next choice might be a router. But what if you wanted them thinner than you could get with either of those?

I'm gonna suggest a good hand saw. Some can do them freehand with a hand saw. I'm not that good yet so my choice would be to build a Jig. (Or at least a SU drawing .

First order of business would be saw selection. Although some of the larger saws might work, I'm gonna suggest a nice Dovetail Saw. If we are cutting corner splines on a nice mitered box, then we will be ripping. Therefore, we would prefer a saw with a rip tooth configuration. In actuallity, I'll bet a Tennon saw would work pretty well too. The main requirement for the saw would be that it have a spine. You might suggest that it would rule out the Japanese pull saws but I say they could be configured to work. Alls ya godda do is configure a spine for them. That shouldn't be too tough of a task for most folks. I'd say clamp the spine with the smallest of clamps to not increase the weight of the saw too much though.

On to the jig (my favorite part). Here's an initial design that I believe would fit the bill for most woodworkers. It is not too difficult to build and should accomodate most any appropriate saw.

Lets break this down a bit. The basic jig starts with a corner brace attached with a butt joint:

Dimensions are not all that critical. Just use what you have available in the shop. Mine happen to be 4" x 8" x 3/4". As with most jigs, I would suggest either MDF or some Baltic Birch plywood.

Next are the saw blade guides(Refined):

These are are a glue-up of a 1/2" strip and two 3" triangles. These are glued up separately, lightly planed, then installed. Note the grain direction for maximum strength if using solid wood.

Attach the Blade Guides. Draw a perpendicular line on the corner braces and attach the blade guides to the corner braces. You could glue the first one and wait till the glue dries or glue them both at the same time. Either way, you'll use your saw to accomodate for the gap between the two guides:

To accomodate for the set in the teeth on the saw, you can add strips of tape on the blade. What you are after is to have the two saw blade guides perfectly parallel. Use the saw alternataly on both slopes to set the width of the kerf gap. You'll want this snug. If it is too tight after gluing, you'll easilly be able to remove the tape on the saw and saw through to open it up properly.

Now for the fence. The fence determines how far from the top/bottom of the box that the saw kerf will be. I just used two 4" x 4" blocks fastened together:

This fence will be held in place with a small C-Clamp when using the jig:

I suppose you could screw it in place as well. Actually, that's probably what I would end up doing.

Preparing the jig. First, you must place the saw between the saw guides and saw through the corner pieces that we began with. You can see from underneath where the saw has made its way through:

It wouldn't hurt to put a backer board in there to prevent any tearout. That is important because those corner boards will act as backer boards when you do the sawing on your actual boxes.

Now you can adjust the fence to where your saw kerf will be at the top of your corner spline and clamp or screw it in place. Then place your box in a vise with one corner facing up and place the jig on the box, making sure the fence rests up against your box and make your first cut:

Repeat this for all four corners. If you intende to have both lower and upper splines, turn the box over and cut those now as well. Now make a shim equal to the thickness of your desired corner spline minus the width of your saw kerf. So if your saw kerf is 1/32" and you want a 1/8" spline, then make your shim 3/32" thick. I've shown my shim here as 5" x 5" with the lower corner nipped off to accomodate the box being held in the vise:

Once the second kerf is cut, the waste would be removed using a narrow 1/8" chisel. You can undercut the waste removal to assure that the splines meet both edges when installed.

To accomodate a shallower kerf, simply add shims to the top of the saw blade guides.

This is but one way that this can be accomplished. There are many other ways that could work equally as well. I'm just presenting this one as it would probably be my first choice, given my skill level and available weapons. Feel free to provide any and all comments or constructive criticism.

Click to expand...

rance said:

Corner Splines Without a Tablesaw

I've seen questions here on LJ asking how to cut accurate splines with weapons other than a table saw. The obvious next choice might be a router. But what if you wanted them thinner than you could get with either of those?

I'm gonna suggest a good hand saw. Some can do them freehand with a hand saw. I'm not that good yet so my choice would be to build a Jig. (Or at least a SU drawing .

First order of business would be saw selection. Although some of the larger saws might work, I'm gonna suggest a nice Dovetail Saw. If we are cutting corner splines on a nice mitered box, then we will be ripping. Therefore, we would prefer a saw with a rip tooth configuration. In actuallity, I'll bet a Tennon saw would work pretty well too. The main requirement for the saw would be that it have a spine. You might suggest that it would rule out the Japanese pull saws but I say they could be configured to work. Alls ya godda do is configure a spine for them. That shouldn't be too tough of a task for most folks. I'd say clamp the spine with the smallest of clamps to not increase the weight of the saw too much though.

On to the jig (my favorite part). Here's an initial design that I believe would fit the bill for most woodworkers. It is not too difficult to build and should accomodate most any appropriate saw.

Lets break this down a bit. The basic jig starts with a corner brace attached with a butt joint:

Dimensions are not all that critical. Just use what you have available in the shop. Mine happen to be 4" x 8" x 3/4". As with most jigs, I would suggest either MDF or some Baltic Birch plywood.

Next are the saw blade guides(Refined):

These are are a glue-up of a 1/2" strip and two 3" triangles. These are glued up separately, lightly planed, then installed. Note the grain direction for maximum strength if using solid wood.

Attach the Blade Guides. Draw a perpendicular line on the corner braces and attach the blade guides to the corner braces. You could glue the first one and wait till the glue dries or glue them both at the same time. Either way, you'll use your saw to accomodate for the gap between the two guides:

To accomodate for the set in the teeth on the saw, you can add strips of tape on the blade. What you are after is to have the two saw blade guides perfectly parallel. Use the saw alternataly on both slopes to set the width of the kerf gap. You'll want this snug. If it is too tight after gluing, you'll easilly be able to remove the tape on the saw and saw through to open it up properly.

Now for the fence. The fence determines how far from the top/bottom of the box that the saw kerf will be. I just used two 4" x 4" blocks fastened together:

This fence will be held in place with a small C-Clamp when using the jig:

I suppose you could screw it in place as well. Actually, that's probably what I would end up doing.

Preparing the jig. First, you must place the saw between the saw guides and saw through the corner pieces that we began with. You can see from underneath where the saw has made its way through:

It wouldn't hurt to put a backer board in there to prevent any tearout. That is important because those corner boards will act as backer boards when you do the sawing on your actual boxes.

Now you can adjust the fence to where your saw kerf will be at the top of your corner spline and clamp or screw it in place. Then place your box in a vise with one corner facing up and place the jig on the box, making sure the fence rests up against your box and make your first cut:

Repeat this for all four corners. If you intende to have both lower and upper splines, turn the box over and cut those now as well. Now make a shim equal to the thickness of your desired corner spline minus the width of your saw kerf. So if your saw kerf is 1/32" and you want a 1/8" spline, then make your shim 3/32" thick. I've shown my shim here as 5" x 5" with the lower corner nipped off to accomodate the box being held in the vise:

Once the second kerf is cut, the waste would be removed using a narrow 1/8" chisel. You can undercut the waste removal to assure that the splines meet both edges when installed.

To accomodate a shallower kerf, simply add shims to the top of the saw blade guides.

This is but one way that this can be accomplished. There are many other ways that could work equally as well. I'm just presenting this one as it would probably be my first choice, given my skill level and available weapons. Feel free to provide any and all comments or constructive criticism.

Click to expand...

rance said:

Corner Splines Without a Tablesaw

I've seen questions here on LJ asking how to cut accurate splines with weapons other than a table saw. The obvious next choice might be a router. But what if you wanted them thinner than you could get with either of those?

I'm gonna suggest a good hand saw. Some can do them freehand with a hand saw. I'm not that good yet so my choice would be to build a Jig. (Or at least a SU drawing .

First order of business would be saw selection. Although some of the larger saws might work, I'm gonna suggest a nice Dovetail Saw. If we are cutting corner splines on a nice mitered box, then we will be ripping. Therefore, we would prefer a saw with a rip tooth configuration. In actuallity, I'll bet a Tennon saw would work pretty well too. The main requirement for the saw would be that it have a spine. You might suggest that it would rule out the Japanese pull saws but I say they could be configured to work. Alls ya godda do is configure a spine for them. That shouldn't be too tough of a task for most folks. I'd say clamp the spine with the smallest of clamps to not increase the weight of the saw too much though.

On to the jig (my favorite part). Here's an initial design that I believe would fit the bill for most woodworkers. It is not too difficult to build and should accomodate most any appropriate saw.

Lets break this down a bit. The basic jig starts with a corner brace attached with a butt joint:

Dimensions are not all that critical. Just use what you have available in the shop. Mine happen to be 4" x 8" x 3/4". As with most jigs, I would suggest either MDF or some Baltic Birch plywood.

Next are the saw blade guides(Refined):

These are are a glue-up of a 1/2" strip and two 3" triangles. These are glued up separately, lightly planed, then installed. Note the grain direction for maximum strength if using solid wood.

Attach the Blade Guides. Draw a perpendicular line on the corner braces and attach the blade guides to the corner braces. You could glue the first one and wait till the glue dries or glue them both at the same time. Either way, you'll use your saw to accomodate for the gap between the two guides:

To accomodate for the set in the teeth on the saw, you can add strips of tape on the blade. What you are after is to have the two saw blade guides perfectly parallel. Use the saw alternataly on both slopes to set the width of the kerf gap. You'll want this snug. If it is too tight after gluing, you'll easilly be able to remove the tape on the saw and saw through to open it up properly.

Now for the fence. The fence determines how far from the top/bottom of the box that the saw kerf will be. I just used two 4" x 4" blocks fastened together:

This fence will be held in place with a small C-Clamp when using the jig:

I suppose you could screw it in place as well. Actually, that's probably what I would end up doing.

Preparing the jig. First, you must place the saw between the saw guides and saw through the corner pieces that we began with. You can see from underneath where the saw has made its way through:

It wouldn't hurt to put a backer board in there to prevent any tearout. That is important because those corner boards will act as backer boards when you do the sawing on your actual boxes.

Now you can adjust the fence to where your saw kerf will be at the top of your corner spline and clamp or screw it in place. Then place your box in a vise with one corner facing up and place the jig on the box, making sure the fence rests up against your box and make your first cut:

Repeat this for all four corners. If you intende to have both lower and upper splines, turn the box over and cut those now as well. Now make a shim equal to the thickness of your desired corner spline minus the width of your saw kerf. So if your saw kerf is 1/32" and you want a 1/8" spline, then make your shim 3/32" thick. I've shown my shim here as 5" x 5" with the lower corner nipped off to accomodate the box being held in the vise:

Once the second kerf is cut, the waste would be removed using a narrow 1/8" chisel. You can undercut the waste removal to assure that the splines meet both edges when installed.

To accomodate a shallower kerf, simply add shims to the top of the saw blade guides.

This is but one way that this can be accomplished. There are many other ways that could work equally as well. I'm just presenting this one as it would probably be my first choice, given my skill level and available weapons. Feel free to provide any and all comments or constructive criticism.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...

rance said:

The Inevitible Push Block

Of all of the jigs in the woodshop, the push block or push stick is usually one of the first that is built. I have qualifications that govern a utilitarian project like this. For one, I rarely purchase materials since scraps can often suffice. Other parameters are to make minimal cuts and processing since these are not that critical. I much prefer wooden push blocks over the plastic ones I've seeen. The plastic ones(besides having to be purchased) seem to not grip the wood as they need to in making a safe cut. I also prefer MDF over plywood.

When taking the time to make a push block, it makes sense to make multiples. I've purposefully shaped it to nest well when making multiples. A piece of 10" x 48" stock can easilly yield 8 blanks:

These can easilly be separated using a bandsaw to zig zag between the rows(shown in Red). Then follow with crosscutting the individual rough blocks.

One failure of most push blocks IMO is that the heel seems to get chewed up quicker than the base so I've incorporated a replacable heel. In this design, the the heel AND the block can both be 'refreshed' by simply trimming off 1/4" from the bottom. Anticipating this, I've included about 1.5" of solid material on the bottom of the base for just that purpose. The heel can also be replace as needed. It is retained using a 3/4" long brass screw. Brass is used in case of a blade strike so your saw blade won't be damaged. Here's a skeletal view so you can see how the heel fits in place:

You can also quickly raise the heel in situations when you are ripping thin material. If the heel is touching the table, then the pushblock is not doing all it was intended to do. The heel should never prevent the bottom of the block from fully contacting the wood.

The build:
Begin with making the heel. It is simply a 1/2" square stock of pine or hardwood.

Next, prepare a 6" x 10" block of 3/4" MDF or plywood for the base. Make a slightly loose 1/2" x 1/2" kerf, 1/2" from the rear of the block.

To get the width of this kerf perfect the first time, you can fit it to the heel using your favorite KerfMaker. I use my Disposable one. To achieve the slightly loose fit, when gauging the heel, add a shim of paper as a fudge factor.

Now laminate a 1/8" cover to the base. Be sure to not get glue inside the slot for the heel.

All that is left now is to add the handle and shape the outside. I start by drilling two holes for the handle. I use a 1.25" Forstner bit for the ends and then 'connect the dots' using a scrollsaw or jigsaw. You can go the extra mile of making a template for smoothing it up with a router and a flush cut bit.

Lastly, round over all the outer edges(except for the bottom) to make it more comfortable to use. Drill for and install the brass heel-retainer screw and "Bob's your uncle".

There is, however, one situation that this block is not well suited for and that is for ripping very thin stock. For those instances, I suggest making one of these completely out of the base 3/4" material with an integral heel. The reason is that for ripping very thin strips(1/8" or less), the heel should fit flush to the fence so that it can push the thin strip on past the blade. Of course there are other better ways for ripping thin stock which I'll be covering in a future episode.

For those situations, here's the solid version:

Edit: Actually, if you don't share a shop with others and you can manage your push blocks, if you keep 3 - 4 dedicated to particular width cuts, then they don't tend to get nearly as chewed up and you might do well with the solid version shown last.

Click to expand...