Get your photos in! The Woodcraft and Pfeil Carving Contest submission deadline is midnight Eastern time on 2/28/2010! Get photos of your most amazing carvings in using the submission form! You can win an amazing trip to Switzerland to learn first hand from Pfeil’s great carvers!
The Woodcraft Spring Sale is ending today!
Grab this opportunity to save 10%, 15%, even 20%!
Save on power tools, pen kits, router bits and more!
Hurry…this sale only comes once a year!
carving contest
OK Gang, the deadline for the carving contest is coming up. Get your photos in as soon as you can! The contest closes February 28, 2010…just days away!!!!!! Get your cameras out and post your entries! You could win a great all-expense paid trip to Switzerland, courtesy of our good friends at Pfeil.
And you should check out the contest entries, they are simply STUNNING! We are simply amazed and awed with the incredible talent of our customers. We are really proud that you create the great things that you do with the tools and tips you get from us. Your skill is enough to make me want to put down the keyboard and grab a chisel and get going!
So we try not to crow too much here about sales, but the Spring Sale is here. Today and tomorrow (February 26 & 27) we are having a great sale. Save 10% on power tools, save 15% on router bits (and all kinds of other stuff like carving tools, finishes, etc) and 20% on fasteners and dust collection accessories (and more!)
This is a BIG sale. Big discounts on great woodworking tools and supplies. Take advantage now!
We know that there are millions of you who shop every day at Amazon. So, we’ve partnered with Amazon to make the Woodcraft at Amazon Store
Rout perfect mortises and tenons
Leigh Industry’s Super Frame Mortise and Tenon Guide
Tester: Jody Garrett
The mortise and tenon ranks as the strongest of all joints, but many woodworkers shun it because it’s challenging to cut by 
hand or requires time-consuming setups when done on a mortising machine and table saw. Enter the new Leigh Super FMT (Frame Mortise and Tenon) Guide, which calls on your router to get the job done with high precision and in short order.
The Setup
Out of the box the Super FMT’s heavy-gauge steel jig frame and router sub-base come almost ready to go. Assembly consists of cutting and mounting a 5 x 24″ baseboard to the jig frame for clamping to a bench and attaching the sub-base to your router. The instruction manual provides detail for attaching over 45 different routers, but guidance for additional routers can be obtained by contacting Leigh. Actual router mounting may take 30 minutes, but this is a one-time investment. Centering the router on the sub-base is absolutely critical for producing precision joinery, but using the supplied centering mandrel makes this process painless. You simply position the sliding stops tightly against the router base to “lock in” the router and prevent any lateral movement. The sliding stops also locate the router on the sub-base for speedy removal/reattachment without impacting accuracy. The jig uses one bit, one guide, and one setup for each standard joint. Optional bits and guides are available for cutting mortises and tenons from 1/16” wide X 1/8” long to 1/2″ wide x 5″ long.
Trial Run
After setup, I cut perfectly fitting 5/16” x ½” inch mortise-and-tenon joints in minutes, all at one location. I next challenged the system by making eight 3/8” x 1 1/2″ mortises and tenons. Here I determined the secrets for routing perfection. When making mortises, initially mortises overlap the plunge holes, working from one mortise end to the other. Then pull the plunged bit through the holes to create clean, straight mortise walls. To make mortises deeper than ½”, plunge- rout in increments, using your router’s stops. Doing this prevents burning. To shape clean, crisp tenons, again work in increments for long tenons and initially make very shallow “climb” cuts (moving the router clockwise) to establish the shoulders. Always make test cuts and test-fit parts to ensure a flush, snug joint. Unlike other jigs, the Super FMT’s precision adjustments are easy to make and dead-on accurate. By turning the left guide pin 1/8 of a turn for a 0.001″ adjustment you can literally “dial in” the perfect fit.
Tester’s Take
For the quality, versatility, and ease of use, the Super FMT represents a great value. If you’ve shied away from mortise-and-tenon joints, especially those with more than one tenon, or mitered mortise-and-tenon joints, you might rethink your position. For the woodworker who plans for a lot of mortise-and-tenon joints in his or her upcoming projects, this may be the time-saving ticket. For chip collection, consider the Vacuum Box as a must-have accessory.
Super FMT #150724 $399 – Value Alert: This month only, buy a Super FMT and Get a Free 16 Piece Guide Set Direct From Leigh – A $99 Value!
OK all you lovers, Valentine’s Day is nigh. To help you celebrate the day of love, Woodcraft is making it easy for you to send your sweetie the trappings of true romance…power tools. We’ve got FREE ground shipping through 2/10/2010…use coupon code 21414 at checkout!
What will you make for your sweetie with the great woodworking supplies that YOU get? Sound off and let us know! And can’t decide what to get for your woodworking honey? Try a gift certificate…they make every man happy!
And did you know that you can upload your best projects to our brag book OR our Facebook page? Let the world see the great stuff that you make!
Freud Premier Adjustable Rail-and-Stile Set
Review by Craig Bentzley
Freud’s newest rail-and-stile bit sets not only cut standard cope-and-stick profiles, but also create full-length (or less) tenons. The key is the two-part rail bit. After cutting the ends of the rails, you remove the top section of the bit and continue using the cutter to increase the length of the tenon. But is it as simple as it sounds? I requested a set to find out.
The Setup and Trial Run
Freud’s basic set consists of the rail-and-stile bits, plus wrenches and a set of shim washers. The bits will handle stock from 5/8″ to 1″ thick. The shim washers enable you to adjust the groove width to match the thickness of your panel or mortising bit from about 7/32″ – 3/8″. I tried the standard cope-and-stick joint first in my table-mounted router, and then made test cuts in cherry to produce stub tenons. Next, I set up the stile bit to match the rail configuration. The cuts were clean and mated nicely. To create a long tenon, I installed shim washers in both bits to match my drill-press mortiser. After coping the ends of my rail stock, making stub tenons, I removed the top half of the rail bit and, in 1/2″ increments, routed the stub into a 1 1/4″-long tenon. To rout the opposite face, I replaced the upper cutter, flipped the rail stock, and then lowered the bit until it was flush with the stub tenon. Using a backup block, I repeated the cuts until the end of the rail’s tenon touched the fence. After cutting the tenon’s haunch with a handsaw and the corresponding mortise on a stile, I tested the rail/stile fit. It proved airtight.
Best Applications
If you’re content with 3/4″-thick doors and glued-in plywood panels, you can get by with regular rail-and-stile bits, but if your woodworking includes solid raised panels, you need a longer tenon. The Freud set does both.
Tester’s Take
Cutting the tenons and mortises doubles the time some cases the strength makes the investment worthwhile. Weekend woodworkers interested in making such doors might start with the additional matching cutters for installing panels Optional sets also can cut stub and long tenons.
Freud Rail and Stile Router Bit Set: Round Profile #150675 $119.99
Freud Rail and Stile Router Bit Set: Ogee Profile #150676 $119.99
Freud Rail and Stile Router Bit Set: Bead Profile #150677 $119.99
Freud Rail and Stile Router Bit Set: Bevel Profile #845352 $119.99
Freud Double Sided Profile Cutters #150678-150681 $95.99
Glass Panel Door Cutter #150682 $37.99
Winter can be such a challenge when it comes to keeping the kids busy and engaged. Why not make them a new toy or game? If you don’t have kids or grand kids or nieces or nephews of your own, you can make something to donate to a shelter or even to sell at an online auction site. Here are some great plans to get you started:
How about the timeless, ever popular, every-kid toy, wooden building blocks? The Playtime Building Blocks Woodworking Plan will walk you through it. A good set of Sanding Sponges will help you finish it off and save little fingers from dreaded splinters.
You could also put together a Rocking Dinosaur for a rockin’ toddler or preschooler. A Festool D-Handle Jigsaw is just the thing to make sure that tail is perfectly poised and those rockers are ready for miles of smooth moving.
If your youngster needs a place for homework or art projects or just to feel big, the Desk and Storage, Plan No. 763 is a great project to take on. Don’t forget to make the all important pencil catcher at the bottom of the desk with your Triton 2 ¼ HP Plunge Router.
Then, of course, there is the universally popular dollhouse. The Castle Doll House, Plan No. 794 uses leftover plywood and ready-made moldings, so you can build it and clean up your shop at the same time.
Making wood toys are a great solution for keeping the kids (and you!) busy and happy until the arrival of springtime weather!
Wow. I have been looking through some of the carving contest entries and I am truly astounded! So much impressive talent and artistry. I like seeing what folks come up with and imagining what moved them to portray that particular form in wood. Did the artist have something in mind and then work the wood to conform to his or her vision, or does the wood suggest what the artist needs to coax out of it? I think it would (wood – haha! sorry, I’ve been trying to resist that but had to give in) be great to hear the stories. In any case, here are some to check out, though every single one coming in is really impressive.
This is a Sharpening Stone Holder by Kari Hultman. I like the idea of making a piece with tools that has the purpose of helping you make pieces with tools. What is that called – circular logic? feedback loop? virtuous circle? Mostly, here, just clever and lovely.
Claddagh Mirror with Malachite accents by David Croxton. Just gorgeous. I am of Irish descent so this one resonates with me. I have tried drawing knot work and found it really challenging. To do it so precisely in wood is stunning.
I love things that impress me AND make me laugh (which is why I am married to the person I am married to). This carving by Michael D. Chambers certainly does both!
Check back soon as we’ll be sharing others. Meanwhile, let these inspire you to do your own! (And just as a disclaimer, I am NOT one of the judges…so my sharing these does NOT imply that you are on a short list, have any sort of inside track or anything. It just means that I think you are an incredible carver.)
