Classic Shaker Side Table - Popular Woodworking Magazine

The Right Way to CleanGunked-up Saw BladesRegarding using oven cleaner to clean the gunkoff saw blades (“Letters,” Spring 2004), a morebenign and equally effective product is GreasedLightning Orange Blast kitchen cleaner, distributedby A&M Cleaning Products of Clemson, S.C.(greased-lightning.com). It is one of several similarproducts I found on the shelves at the supermarket.I once tried an oven cleaner on my saw blade.It was so strong, the stamped serial number was theonly thing it didn’t remove from the blade.Ron CulbertsonMyrtle Creek, OregonRon,Oven cleaners can be caustic. Handling blades(or router bits) that are being cleaned this wayshould be done with care to avoid an eye injuryor skin irritation. Citrus cleaners, such as the oneyou mention, can be effective and are not as harshif they come in contact with skin. Still another optionis an overnight soak in kerosene. We contactedone of the biggest manufacturers of carbide in theworld, Leitz Tooling Systems Inc., and learned thatall these cleaning approaches are acceptable andwill not harm the carbide itself. We also learnedthat on an industrial level, Leitz uses ultrasonicwaves to remove pitch from tooling.Steve Shanesy, editor & publisherAdditional 6" Rule SourcesRegarding “Almost-perfect 6" Rulers” (Spring2004): These 6" rules are generally based on machinist’srules, which come in many patterns.Buying them through woodworking tool suppliersisn’t the best approach. People should buythem through companies that sell to machinists,where you can get a far wider variety of widths,thicknesses and measurement patterns, often atlower prices. Two good possibilities to check outare McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) andEnco (use-enco.com). Good brands to considerbesides the pair you recommend (Starrett andShinwa) are Brown & Sharpe and Mitutoyo.Also, the last time I looked in my hardwarestore, conventional tapered wood screws werestill available in steel and hot-dipped galvanizedsteel (“Screws,” Spring 2004). Perhaps the hardwarestores near you no longer carry them, butthis isn’t true everywhere.Bill HoughtonSebastopol, California“Only those who have the patience to dosimple things perfectly ever acquire theskill to do difficult things easily.”— Friedrich Von Schiller (1759 – 1805)dramatist, essayist and poetStack dadoWobble dadoShimDado is adjusted by stackingblades to the correct widthDado is cut by the rotating angled bladeDifferences in Dado SetsWhat is the difference between a stack dado andan adjustable (also called a “wobble”) dado? Isone safer or more exact than the other?David Ecclesvia the InternetDavid,There are two kinds of dado sets, and both are“adjustable,” meaning you can alter the width ofthe dado. A stack dado consists of several bladesthat you stack on the arbor until you get to the desiredwidth. The outside blades are simply outerblades, while the inside blades are called “chippers.”There also are shims that allow you to makesmall changes in width, as small as a few thousandthsof an inch.The other kind of dado set is a “wobble” dado.This is a one-blade system. By turning a knob atthe center you can adjust how much the blade willwobble as it rotates. The more it wobbles, the widerthe dado cut. This tooling, though generally lessexpensive, leaves a cut that is unacceptable forall but the roughest of woodworking. You shouldchoose a stack dado when building furniture.– Christopher Schwarz, executive editorA Question about Birch PlywoodI just picked up a copy of Woodworking Magazine(Spring 2004) and had to share my enthusiasm.I get every woodworking magazine out there butyours shows a quality missing from the rest. I wasparticularly taken by the articles and your “Letters”section. Your style is engaging, clear and interesting.In each instance, I came away feelinglike definitive information was transmitted andthat I truly learned something of value to me.One comment on the “Glossary” (Editor’s note:Our interactive, newly expanded glossary appearsonline at woodworking-magazine.com):Your definition of Baltic birch seems to equateit with Finnish birch. I’ve read in several placesthat this plywood is made with a different gluethat makes it suitable for outdoor use, a subtle butsignificant difference.Joe PiccolinoDelmar, New YorkJoe,There are differences between the two plywoods,but it’s not the glue. To clear up the confusion,we talked with Luke Wolstenholme, president ofWolstenholme International, a Boulder, Colo.-based company that has been importing Balticbirch to this country for 12 years.Baltic and Finnish birch are both high-qualityplywoods made from veneer plies of equal thicknesses.The plies are thinner than those in mostdomestic plywoods, and therefore there are morelayers. Add the fact that these plywoods don’t havevoids and are generally inexpensive and you cansee why they are desirable materials. Wolstenholmesays although Baltic birch (imported fromRussia) is made in 4' x 8', 5' x 8' and 5' x 10' sheets,90 percent of it is sold in 5' x 5' sheets. Finnish birch(from Finland) is available in other sizes, but 90percent of it is sold in 4' x 8' sheets.Both types of plywood are available with eitherinterior- or exterior-grade adhesive. Typically,4' x 8' sheets are used in construction, so thoseare made with glue suitable for exterior use, while5' x 5' sheets are used for furniture projects, sothose are made with glue suitable for interior use.Perhaps this has led to the assumption that Finnishbirch is always made with glue suitable for outdooruse. In most cases it is – but not always. WM– Kara Gebhart, managing editorHOW TO CONTACT USSend your comments and questions viae-mail to letters@fwpubs.com, or byregular mail to Woodworking Magazine,Letters, 4700 E. Galbraith Road,Cincinnati, OH 45236. Please include yourcomplete mailing address and daytimephone number. All letters becomeproperty of Woodworking Magazine.woodworking-magazine.com ■ 3