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I own a small but very useful collection of handsaws. My problem was finding a handy and safe place to store them. The answer was a simple wall storage rack that keeps the saws out of the way but still easily accessible, as you can see in the photo.

The design of the rack is shown in the drawing below. Basically, it consists of a couple of pieces of hardboard that sandwich a series of beveled blocks. The spaces between the blocks hold loose sections of ¾?-dia. dowel. And a kerf cut through the outer face allows entrance of the saw blade.

The rack works by pinching the saw blade between the loose section of dowel and the fixed block. To hang up a saw, you simply slip it into the kerf from below and then let the saw drop until the dowel grabs it. To remove a saw, you push it up and out of the kerf.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

Jointers are a great tool for straightening an edge or flattening the face of a workpiece. But it’s not unusual to get a cut that’s rough in some areas. Instead of a nice smooth surface, the wood has patches of lifted grain or areas of chipout or tearout.

In some cases, this may be caused by dull knives or working with highly figured woods that are difficult to joint smooth no matter what you do. But most often the problem is the result of the orientation of the grain in the workpiece.

EDGE JOINTING
Determining the proper feed direction of the grain is easier when you’re passing the edge through the jointer. Simply examine the face of the board and determine whether the grain slopes up or down. Then feed the piece in the direction that allows the grain to slope away from the knives. This keeps the knives cutting with the grain, as shown in the drawings below, instead of against the grain, which leads to tearout or chipout along the edge.

FACE JOINTING
Jointing the face of a board can be a little more challenging. That’s because the grain pattern may appear to be going in one direction on the face and actually run in the opposite direction, like you see in the drawing above.

If there’s a V-shaped surface grain present, it’s tempting to look at the face of the workpiece and then feed the board into the jointer with the V-shaped grain pointing away from the knives. But you’ll actually get a better picture of grain direction if you take a look at the edge.

In a similar manner to edge jointing, you’ll want to check out the edge to see if the grain is rising or falling. But this time you’ll want to feed the board into the jointer in the direction that keeps the knives cutting with the grain direction visible on the edge of the board. You’ll find these same principles apply when you use your planer.

CHANGING GRAIN DIRECTION
The grain direction may also change within a single workpiece. When you see this, you can sometimes avoid rough cuts by slowing down the feed rate when you get to the point the grain makes a change in direction. This way, the knives take smaller “bites” and you’ll be less likely to end up with any chipout.

Determining grain direction is the best way to get better results with your jointer. The nice thing is it only takes you a few extra seconds, but it’ll save you a lot of sanding time in the long run.

Have a nice weekend,

Phil Huber
Editor, ShopNotes

When building and assembling raised panel doors, I’m always careful to account for normal expansion and contraction of the panel in the frame. The precaution involves leaving a small gap between the edges of the panel and the bottom of the frame groove and then allowing the panel to “float” in the groove without glue. But this technique can lead to another problem. As the panel shrinks in dry weather, the loosened fit can cause it to rattle as the door is opened and closed.

The fix I came up with is very simple and effective. Before assembling the door, I put small dabs of silicone caulk in the bottom of the groove and allow it to dry. Once the door is assembled the caulk cushions the panel in the frame, both keeping it centered and rattle-free.

Have a nice weekend,

Ted Raife
Editor, Woodsmith