Category: The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years

The following is excerpted from “The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years,” Vol. IV. This fourth book in the series covers three different topics.

1) The Workshop, including the design and construction of workbenches, tool chests and wall cabinets. There’s also an entire section devoted to “appliances,”which are workshop accessories such as shooting boards.

2) Furniture & its Details, includes a discussion of all the important Western furniture styles, including their construction, mouldings and metal hardware. This section also includes the construction drawings for many important and famous pieces of furniture examined by Charles H. Hayward during his tenure at The Woodworker magazine.

3) Odds & Sods. In addition to offering its readers practical information for the shop, The Woodworker also asked it subscribers to think about the craft and its place in modern society. We have included many of our favorite philosophical pieces in this final section.

A stool container which will house your ordinary bench tools and act as a mitre sawing and shooting board is illustrated in Fig. 1. It can be easily carried around the house and placed near the exact spot where the actual work is in progress. For a household kit of tools it has many advantages over a small tool chest which has to be kept in a store room or garage. There is no key to lose, and no lid to lift. When not in actual use it can stand in the kitchen and be used as a step to gain access to the upper kitchen shelves.

The container is easily and inexpensively made. Much of the wood required may be taken from clean packing cases or from salvage timber. The ends are dowel glue-jointed and the joint line is arranged so that it does not come in the centre of the width of the end and thus foul the sawing kerf and the round handle. With regard to size there is no hard and fast rule, but suitable dimensions are 24 ins. long over-all by 14 ins. across the width of the end, and 16 ins. high.

The thicknesses of the stool ends should be not less than 7/8 in.; the same thickness applies to the long wide sides. The drawer fronts and the longitudinal divisions between the drawers should be out of 5/8 in. or 3/4 in. wood; the drawer sides are cut from 1/2 in. or 3/8 in. wood. Drawer bottoms are of 1/4 in. plywood or alternatively cut out of clean margarine box timber which has been planed to a clean finish.

The long round rod which runs from end to end of the stool is made from a piece of 1-1/4 in. or 1-1/2 in. round blind roller rod, or alternatively an old piece of ash from a broken hay rake handle may be requisitioned. The method of shouldering, saw kerfing, and wedging this handle in position is given in Fig. 5a. Note that the saw kerf and wedge are placed diagonally so that when wedging up there will be no tendency to split the stool end in the direction of its grain.

The ends of the stool are skew nailed to the long sides. This will prevent distortion and open joints owing to the racking which is bound to take place when the stool is subject to rough usage. The nails should be of the cut variety because they hold in the fibres of the wood much better than the round polished wire nail. The interior of the well of the stool should be glue blocked at the ends as suggested in Fig. 5. Glue blocks should also be used around the bottom of the well. The long rail between the drawers and long bottom rail need not be more than 1-3/4 ins. in width. They are stub-tenoned for 5/8 of an inch into the ends. Small runners should be kept as narrow as is convenient because they have little weight to carry and the object is to keep the stool as light as possible for carrying about.

The long drawers, 1-3/4 ins. deep, accommodate chisels and gouges, oilstone, joiner’s bevel, dovetail saw, and similar small tools, such as bits, etc. Twist bits should be kept in a partitioned green baize bag. The four smaller drawers are divided into suitable compartments to contain panel pins, tacks, screws, etc.

At the near end of the stool provision is made for mitre cutting. The well or hollow box portion will take the jack and the smoothing planes, ratchet brace, pliers and pincers, screwdrivers, and the household axe. The tenon saw is suitably fixed at the rear outside end of the stool, which is large enough to take this 12 in. tenon saw and the ordinary bench hammer. It will be noticed that suitable provision is also made for the handsaw and a 6 in. try-square in the handiest positions.
Fig. 2 shows the method of dealing with long stock when it is required to cut off the waste end (S). Of course the worker would have his left knee on top of the board. In the same sketch is shown the auxiliary shooting board (A) when turned upside down. It becomes a step for the workman to increase his height.

As an adjunct to the stool we show in Fig. 3 an auxiliary shooting and mitre board. It is made as a separate unit, and fits on top of the stool as shown. It will be observed that in Fig. 1 the side of the stool is cut away to receive the mitre block and the squaring rail. Thus it can be reversed as previously mentioned when it is not required. When fitting the mitre block (B) on to the shooting board it can be positioned by placing three ordinary pins on to the board (C). Put the block (B) in the position it will occupy and give to the top of the block a smart tap with the hammer. This will give to both B and C suitable indentations which will tally with each other. At these points the worker bores 3/8 in. holes with his twist bit and duly inserts his dowels. The dowels are glued into block (B) only. This allows the mitre block to be levered out of its position with the screw driver when not required. For instance when jointing the long edges of boards the block (B) would of course be in the way of the plane, and therefore it is made removable.

There is no need to go to the trouble of dovetailing the drawers. A quite good drawer can be made as shown in Fig. 6, lapped joints being used. The bottom edge of the drawer front is rebated to agree with the bottom.

Do not paint the tool stool; it makes it heavy to carry about. If you must attempt some type of finish give the job a coat of brush shellac or spirit varnish and when dry rub it down with No. 1-1/2 grade glasspaper. Then apply a second coat of shellac varnish, or a coat of clear Varnene. This will prevent the job from holding dirt.

The following is excerpted from Vol. II of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Techniques.”

As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.

This massive project – five volumes in all – seeks to reprint a small part of the information Hayward published in The Woodworker during his time as editor in chief. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.

For good-class work a reliable system of dovetailed construction has been evolved over the years, though it may have to be varied to suit details of the job to which it is fitted, and in special circumstances may have to be replaced by an entirely different method. However, it is not always possible to use dovetails, possibly for reasons of economy, and we have therefore included the simpler methods as well as those of accepted cabinet practice.

A. B. Standard dovetails. The most reliable and neatest. The dovetails resist the pull as the drawer is opened. Dovetail slope is about 1/2 in. in 3 in., though in some trades it is less, and the pins at the front run nearly to a point (B). Bottom is held in a groove at the front, and it is essential that the bottom dovetail includes the groove as otherwise the latter shows as a gap. At the sides the bottom is held in grooved slips (R) and (S), and the back stands above the bottom. Consequently the bottom back dovetail is square at the lower side, and is in fact formed by the bottom edge of the back.

C. Drawer with cocked beads. Normal dovetailing is used (A) (B) except that the lap is made slightly wider to enable a rebate to be worked in which the cocked bead can fit. This rebate is continued along the bottom edge, but at the top the wood is removed for its whole width so that no joint is visible. This necessitates cutting the top bead to the special mitred and butted joint shown inset.

D. Overlapping drawer. Front projects and is rebated to fit in the opening. Sometimes bottom rebate is omitted. The pins in the front should be cut first as otherwise it is awkward to mark them from the dovetails if these are already cut.

E. F. Shallow drawer joints. Used for small drawers in which it is undesirable to raise the bottom and so reduce inside space. Front is rebated to receive bottom, and square member is cut at bottom to fill in what would otherwise be a gap.

G. Canted front drawer. Note that dovetails slope equally each side of the horizontal. Groove for bottom must be horizontal, not square with the front.

H. I. Shaped front drawers. These are alternative methods. That at (I) is the more economical in material, but, depending upon the shape, a vertical joint is sometimes preferable.

J. Drawer shaped in plan. This may be one of a pair of drawers, or may be a single bow-front drawer with both sides as shown to the left. As the side fits in square the front must be planed off square at the inside. Dovetailing is then normal (A) (B). Much the same applies to the right-hand side, but here the front has to be cut in square.

K. Shaped and projecting drawer. The front breaks forward boldly necessitating its being of the special shape shown. At the ends it is cut thick and finished to a curve inside.

L. Slot-dovetailed drawer. This is needed when the drawer sides have to stand in at the ends. Here the dovetail is shown running right through, but it is generally stopped at the top. Position of slot is important as it is difficult to reduce the sides after drawer is assembled. Best way is to fit back to opening, place on inner face of front, and mark the ends.

M. Central runner drawer. This is practicable only when the sides are thick enough to be grooved without being weakened unduly. One of the oldest methods of suspension, and is sometimes revived today as all stops are eliminated.

N. Machined dovetails. This is used particularly with the Arcoy dovetailer. To avoid having just part of a dovetail at one side the multi-pitch attachment should be used. As this device cuts only lap-dovetails it is not practicable for the back, which should be either grooved or slot dovetailed in.

O. Simple lap-jointed drawer. The front is rebated to take the sides, and the back fits in grooves. Glue and nails are used for assembling. Often the bottom is nailed or screwed on beneath, the front being rebated. A better construction is to groove it in. In either case the back stands above it. It is advisable to let the back stand down at the top.

P. Suspended drawer. Used for an isolated drawer beneath a top with no flanking sides or lower support. Often used on a bench. Construction is usually lapped, held together with glue and nails. The bearers can either be rebated as shown, or they can be in two separate pieces.

Q. R. S. T. Fixings for drawer bottoms. In most cases the front is grooved as it is thick enough not to be unduly weakened. An exception is in a shallow drawer in which it may be rebated. When sides are thick they may be grooved (Q). Usually drawer bottom slips are grooved (R), as the sides are not weakened and the bearing surface is increased. An alternative form is that at (S). For a shallow drawer (T) can be used. Sides and front are rebated, and for small light drawers the bottom can finish flush. Better working is secured by making the rebate slightly deep and adding thin strips to the underside as shown.

U. Bent plywood construction. Sometimes used today. The plywood can be either preformed, or two sheets of thin ply can be glued together around a former. Generally the front and back are rebated to take the plywood.

The following is excerpted from Vol. I of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Tools.” As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.

This massive project – five books in total – seeks to reprint a small part of the information Hayward published in The Woodworker during his time as editor in chief. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.

We have culled, organized, scanned, edited and re-edited these articles to create these hardbound volumes. This is not simply a quick reprint of old magazines. We have reset all of the type. We have scanned and cleaned every image (there are more than 2,000 drawings and photos). The entire project took hundreds of hours and a dozen people all over the country.

The first volume is on tools, and includes: Sharpening; Setting Out Tools & Chisels; Planes; Saws; Boring Tools; Carving; Turning; Veneering & Inlay.

There are three general classes of saws; hand-saws, back-saws, and those for cutting curves. The first, with the use of which we are concerned here, are for the preliminary cutting up of timber and for the larger joints, and at least one is essential in the kit.

Features of the Handsaw. A saw which will cut fairly rapidly without badly tearing out the grain, and one which can be used for cutting both across and with the grain, is desirable because it can be used for so many purposes. Choose one about 22 in. long (that is the blade length measured along the teeth) and having, say, 10 points to the inch. The latter detail refers to the size of the teeth and means the number of tooth points in an inch including those at both ends. In Fig. 2, for instance, there are 10 points to the inch. Many saws have the number stamped on the blade near the handle. If you propose to do mostly carpentry as distinct from furniture making you can gain a little in cutting speed at the sacrifice of fine cutting by choosing a saw with larger teeth, say 8 points.

Make sure that it is a cross-cut saw you get, not a rip-saw. There is an important difference between the sharpening of the two which affects the cutting. The cross-cut can be used for any sort of cutting, whereas the rip-saw is confined to sawing with the grain. It is a good plan too to choose a taper-ground-saw. It means that the blade has a natural clearance in the kerf it makes since it is slightly thinner at the back than at the toothed edge. Even with this refinement, however, a saw would jam in its kerf unless the teeth were given what is known as set. This is the slight bending over of the teeth in alternate directions so that, as the saw cuts through the wood, it makes a cut (kerf it is usually called) slightly wider than the thickness of its blade. Of course, this means that the resistance is slightly greater in that the saw has had to remove more wood in sawdust, but this is mostly offset by the reduced friction of the blade in the kerf. It does mean, however, that the taper-ground-saw has a definite advantage in that the set can be less owing to the natural clearance of the blade.

Using the Saw. Sawing is done on trestles, on the bench, or in the vice. In the first the wood is usually steadied by pressure from the knee, whilst for bench sawing the usual plan is to cramp down the wood. This is really important because it is impossible to saw properly if the wood is jumping about. Here then is a first essential. If you cannot hold the wood steady, fix it down with a cramp.

Square Sawing. Perhaps the chief difficulty that besets the beginner is that of square sawing, and this is entirely a matter of knowing when the saw is upright and of keeping it so throughout its stroke. If the cut is not square it means that at best there will be a lot of wood to trim away, and at worst the wood may be too small owing to its have been undercut. For a start place a trysquare on the bench against the blade and endeavour to keep the blade in line with it as at A, Fig. 3. We have known a case of a man, determined to cure a fault of sawing out of square, who stood a large mirror in front of himself and glanced at it occasionally to see whether the saw was upright. This is not usually practicable, but whatever method you use endeavour to get the feel of when the saw is upright. Put the square on the wood and hold the saw against it perfectly upright. Note and try to register your position. Move the saw into various positions in its stroke and again note your attitude. After a time you will no longer need to use the square as a guide, but even so, test the sawn edge afterwards to see whether you have any special bias, and endeavour to correct the fault.

Straight Sawing. A common experience for a beginner is to find that the saw is either drifting away from or bearing towards the line along which he is sawing. He tries to put things right by twisting the handle (C, Fig. 3), and, after a few strokes finds that the saw is bearing the opposite way, and so it goes on until the end of the cut, the resulting edge being a long and wavy line as in Fig. 4. Clearly the important thing is to start right with the saw blade parallel with the line.

Now in normal sawing the blade is held so that the line of the teeth makes about 45 degrees with the wood, as at A, Fig. 5. This makes it a little difficult to judge whether the blade is in alignment with the line, because when the saw is low the handle does not extend far enough along the line to enable you to judge the matter, and when it is high the handle is so far above the line that it is just as difficult. The best plan is to start the cut with the saw held at a very low angle as at B, Fig. 5. Then, if the toe of the saw is used to start the cut the handle will extend a long way along the line and it will be low. Once a reasonable start has been made the saw can assume the normal 45 degrees. If you start right there is no reason why you should not keep right—assuming that the saw is in order.
Bad sharpening can cause drifting, but the drift will always be in the same direction. It may be due to unequal setting, to the saw having been sharpened from the same side throughout, to one side having been caught on a nail, or to the blade being buckled. Do not try to cure it yourself. Take it to a proper sharpener and explain what happens. He will know what to do. Sharpening and the correction of faults is a skilled operation calling for experience.

General Sawing. Assume that you are going to saw along a board, the latter held on trestles or boxes. Start the saw at a low angle as already suggested and give a few short strokes, the blade bearing against the thumb of the left hand to steady it as shown in Fig. 1. This enables the saw to make a start in the right place. As the blade cuts more deeply into the wood you can gradually change the position of the handle so that the blade makes about 45 degrees with the wood, and the short starting strokes can be changed to long ones embracing nearly the whole length of the saw. Note from Fig. 1 how the index finger of the right hand points along the blade. This is a great aid to control and applies to almost every saw. Keep the left hand with either the thumb or side of the finger bearing against the blade until the saw has cut a fair way into the wood—say about the width of its blade. Apart from steadying it at the start it helps to prevent an injury in the event of the blade jumping from the kerf. If the left hand is merely held at the edge away from the saw the latter might jump out and jar the hand.

Don’t force the blade. Keep it moving steadily in long, even strokes with light or moderate pressure. It used to be taught to apprentices that a saw should cut merely by its own weight, and the underlying idea that forcing must be avoided is sound; but you need something rather more positive than this. Give just enough pressure to ensure firm control and you will find that the saw will cut freely. If it doesn’t, it needs sharpening.

In practically every case the saw is used to the side of the line rather than on it. The point is that the line represents the finished size, and the saw cut is made on the waste side to allow for final trimming with the plane. Many men tend to saw well away from the line for fear of making the wood too small. This is natural enough, but it exemplifies the lack of confidence of a man not sure of himself. Learn to cut accurately therefore, and you can then cut close to the line, leaving just enough for trimming.