Cabinet constructions tip, techniques, how-tos, and how-to-nots

[bemis23]

Well, I've realized that building a square box is harder than it appears to be. I learned a lot building my subs the past couple weeks and I've realized that power tools can't overcome user ignorance and can't compensate for lack of experience even if you have a good plan of attack. I wanted to start a thread to try and collect and centralize a lot of the advice that is scattered throughout many of the threads on here since I didn't see one in the reference section. I know there are a few master woodworkers and some folks that may not be masters but have lots of experience with building speaker cabinets. So please share any advice, tips, tricks, warnings, cautions, possibilities, tool accessory suggestions, and anything else related to:

Building square frames
Building deliberately non-square frames
Faceted baffles
Bracing recommendations
Helpful clamps
Glue types/brands
Getting a flush final product
Hardware recommendations
Reducing box leaks
etc..

[sfdoddsy]

My best piece of advice would be to build an open baffle.

No boxes.

[Deward Hastings]

No boxes.

Sounds better.

Seriously.

But also seriously templates and jigs are wonderful things. Just remember the Seran Wrap or waxed paper (so you don't glue them in).

[JoshK]

Getting a flush final product
etc..

Learned that the hard way. The easiest thing to do is leave a little overhang on the last piece (say the baffle) and then true it up with a flush trim bit on your router. The back can be done the same way and the top/bottom can be done on the two joints each. That leaves only the sides that need to really be precisely the same size.

For the sides I set the fence on the table saw to what it should be on each cut and pass them both through, one after the other without moving the fence. You have to ensure the fence is really square to your blade first, which is always a good thing anyway (to check).

[David_D]

The single best piece of advise I could give is to plan one's cuts so, alike pieces can be cut without moving the saw fence.

[Bear]

pieces can be cut without moving the saw fence.

Amen, hallelujah!! This is tip #1 after the ubiquitous "measure twice, cut once".

[soundemon]

When assembling, jig and dry-fit like crazy before applying glue. plan where your clamps are going to go, how many to use etc. When the glue is down, the pressure is on.

I like to jig whenever I can - set up a glue so the peice can't shift. (as invariably happens when clamping a glue joint) In this pic you can see 90 degree jigs I
-clamp to the upright
-position the piece on the flat board
-clamp to the flat board
- remove clamps from the upright. After putting glue down I'll place the piece down and clamp it to the jigs.

Also not pictured (I'd removed them) I clamp 2 boards to either side of the flat board, so the upright cannot shift side to side.

[Bill Schneider]

I've become a big fan of using biscuits to align parts for gluing. Cutting biscit slots freehand was inaccurate because of the way the cutter's fence had only 3/4" to ride on for squaring a face cut.

I made a biscuit cutting jig that takes all the work out of cutting the slots, and ensures a square slot.

Here's a couple photos of the biscuit cutting jig...





..and here are a couple cabinets being assembled using biscuits. I like how the cabinet sides themselves become a jig for assembling the opposite side and verticals.

[Bill Schneider]

When crosscutting long pieces, I've made an adjustable stop that I bolt to the side of the table saw. Coarse adjustments are made by sliding a shoe along a board, and fine adjustments are made using a 3/8-16 carriage bolt.

I used some angle iron under the center of the board to support it sufficiently without sag.







In the last picture, you can see that the inset shows that I met the 40.25 inch length specified for a ZDT3.5 tower. Worked like a charm on all the cuts.

[Bill Schneider]

When I purchase MDF at Lowe's, I have them make a couple of cuts so that a 4x8 sheet will fit into my Toyota Matrix. When asking for the cut, I always hand the worker this diagram to ensure that it will give me the best size to work with, and it helps to ensure squareness of the parts by making the vertical cut first. And there's no confusion.



Then I take these somewhat large pieces, and use sawhorses, a circular saw, and a quality straightedge to cut it down further. I use a combination square to set the distance of cut so that it's very parallel to the opposite side.



After clamping both ends of the straightedge with the square setting the proper distance, the square gets clamped at the center of the rule during the cut to minimize straightedge flexing in the center.

[cobbpa]

Agreed with others--move the saw blade as little as possible. Leaving a little extra to trim off isn't a bad idea either.

This weekend my cousin and I "took it to the next level," for us...we made miter cuts on the interior edges, then used biscuits to ensure alignment. We came up with some great looking angles

[JoshK]

Glad to see others enjoy using biscuit jointers. I have to say, I love mine! Makes life much easier when gluing up.

[cobbpa]

To quickly answer a couple of the other questions:
--Use basic wood glue; Tite Bond works perfectly
--To help have a sealed/tight box, go over the interior seams with silicon latex caulk before closing it up
--Hand-tightened (trigger style?) clamps are good and I certainly use them a lot, but they usually can't place the pressure that traditional pipe clamps / any screw-tightened clamp can
--To have a flush final product, either clamp carefully & use guides to have things flush before they dry, or go over edges with a flush-trim bit in the router after
--Square guides like Soundemon posted pictures of are great. I have cut these out of scrap on the table saw before & used with good luck.

Those are my quick answers; I'm sure someone with more experience can correct me on most of them!

[Undefinition]

I went from using screw 'n glue, to biscuits, now to a brad nailer. There was like an exponential decrease in time required to build the enclosures. I still use jigs to make sure things are square as I put the nails in. But the beauty is that brad nails eliminate the need for clamping; once a side has enough nails in it, it's enough force to hold the panels together as the glue dries. A dab of wood putty or Bondo will fill the divot created by the brad's head.

Of course, it's not always about working fast. If I was a more patient woodworker (that is, more of a "skilled builder" instead of a "designer") I think I'd rather take my time and use biscuits.

Images not available

[Rolex]

I use the aluminum angles that soundemon mentions. My preferred method of construcion requires three things. Glue, screws, and pin nailer. I apply glue to both sides, align till I'm happy, pin nail so it doesn't move, then screw it together. Biscuits are fine, and sometimes I use them for the front baffle. I don't find I need them for alignment though. I can get as perfect as I care for with clamps and pin nailer. I'm fortunate enough to have some nice toys in my shop including:



Delta unisaw with excaliber sliding table. Accurate panel cuts become very strightforward and repeatable with this setup. I find that I don't need to trim baffle edges with the router to make them flush.

One trick I used to use before the pin nailer was to dry clamp everything and drill a couple screw holes before the glue (I like the countersink bits seen below). That was my alignment since things get slippery once th glue is on. Then, apply glue, and use the screws to assist with alignment.

Image not available

[Hank]

My 30+ years has taught me (long ago) to not use the expense and time-wasting screw method. Accurately cut right angle panels will butt-join fine and sufficient glue will ensure a strong joint. Screws, nails and biscuits are not needed. When building a tower cabinet, because of its weight an unweildy-ness, I use my 18 guage brad nailer to hold panels in place while I apply clamps. Lots of great advice in this thread, now jump in and make some sawdust.

[Rolex]

My 30+ years has taught me (long ago) to not use the expense and time-wasting screw method. Accurately cut right angle panels will butt-join fine and sufficient glue will ensure a strong joint. Screws, nails and biscuits are not needed. When building a tower cabinet, because of its weight an unweildy-ness, I use my 18 guage brad nailer to hold panels in place while I apply clamps. Lots of great advice in this thread, now jump in and make some sawdust.

Interesting that you find screws time wasting. I use screws to hold the cabinets together while the glue is drying. I have zero clamp time when assembling a cabinet. Speeds the process up immensly if you ask me.

[Bill Schneider]

Here's another thing I learned the hard way - squares are sometimes not square. In particular, one-piece framing squares seem to have the most problem. Combination squares with sliding scales are usually better made, but more expensive.

If your square isn't square, then your saw alignment, measurements, etc. can all be off.

Here's a tip that's obvious once you've seen it...



Place your square on an edge and scribe a line. Flip it over and scribe again. If the two lines converge or diverge, your square isn't square.

I have both a 12" Starrett square (expensive, but very high quality) and a longer 16" square from Lowe's for when I need a little extra reach. The Starrett, as you might expect, gets handled gently. The other one is my beat-about, and I can check it against the Starrett if I suspect damage.

[krips]

Interesting that you find screws time wasting. I use screws to hold the cabinets together while the glue is drying. I have zero clamp time when assembling a cabinet. Speeds the process up immensly if you ask me.

Depends on the material, doesn't it? Trying to screw MDF, even with pre-drilling, is pretty much impossible in my experience. Works well with ply thoughl

[Rolex]

Depends on the material, doesn't it? Trying to screw MDF, even with pre-drilling, is pretty much impossible in my experience. Works well with ply thoughl

Maybe. Though I have had tremendous success screwing into MDF with pre-drilling. Coarse thread screws about 1 5/8" long. You can't stess the joint until after the glue is dry, but it holds tight enough to let the glue do its job and move on to the next piece without clamps.

With proper care (avoiding end splitting) and the right application, screws work well for me.

[collo]

Is self-promotion allowed if it's relevent?
Some tips on glues / sawboards / routing / box building walk-thru / grilles here

[Brian Walter]

So far I have to agree with almost all of the comments and suggestions. I say almost all because I haven't necessarily tried all of the suggestions, so I can't say for certain. One point I would like to stress is Bill's point about not all squares being square, especially Carpenter squares. Also, one of the problems with using Carpenter squares is that it can be easy to not have the square tight against the wood, resulting in errors. I have seen a trick where you screw a couple pieces of wood (or a single piece with a slot in it) to either side of one leg of the square, essentially making a "T" square out of it. It might take a little work getting the wood set so the square is a true 90 degrees, but once set it should make using the square much easier and improve the accuracy of your work.

Also, if you are using a table saw it pays big time to align everything correctly. This means setting the miter gauge parallel to the blade, the rip fence parallel to the blade and making sure your miter gauge or sleds if you use them are set to truly cut at 90 degree or whatever angle you want. If you don't do this you will be constantly fighting with your saw trying to get accurate cuts. If your saw is miss-aligned, you might be better off simply using a square, sawboard and circular saw for your cuts and a router to trim things flush.

[soundemon]

Also, if you are using a table saw it pays big time to align everything correctly. This means setting the miter gauge parallel to the blade, the rip fence parallel to the blade and making sure your miter gauge or sleds if you use them are set to truly cut at 90 degree or whatever angle you want. If you don't do this you will be constantly fighting with your saw trying to get accurate cuts. If your saw is miss-aligned, you might be better off simply using a square, sawboard and circular saw for your cuts and a router to trim things flush.

+1
I spent about 4 hours setting up my table saw when I first got it to make sure everything was sqyare and true. time well spent!

[Hank]

screws work well for me

Huge waste of time for me, because when finish time comes, you've got to fill the screw head depressions, sand perfectly level, and then hope the filler doesn't expand and contract at a different rate than the MDF.
But, to each his own - the objective is to build good cabinets. :-)

[WayneW]

I like to use clamps rather than screws. That way, I don't have to fill or putty any of the holes, also, screws don't really give good even pressure like clamps do. I go an extra step and use clamp cauls as well, to spread the load out and get consistant pressure. Also, the tip about over-sizing and flush trimming is a great tip. Finding a square that is square can be a challenge. I use a Sheffield square and it is the first one I have found that stays square throughout the year.

[aduljr]

I recently started to use a pocket hole jig I got from kreg. That with a clamping guide to keep things square really helps will speed of assembly.

counter sinking bracings and parts into the sidewalls.

I also measure, measure, measure. I try to plan my cuts to be slight oversize a little.

I then take pieces that are the same cut size and run them through the table saw for the finally cut. I get real consistent sizes this way.

I make sure my table saw is square and that the fence is no more then 1/32 of an inch off or less.

[Doug Fraser]

The one thing that has really helped me is to plan the cuts so that all of the cuts of a given size are done at once. The problem is that I find it almost impossible to set the fence to exactly the same measurement again if I have to go back and reset the fence.

So if the speakers are to be say 9" wide then I cut all of the 9" wide pieces (tops, bottoms, sides, baffles - whatever) that should be 9" wide. This way I do not have to readjust the fence on the table saw and all the 9" wide pieces are well - the same width.

For me the next important item is the biscuit joiner. This tool allows very accurate alignment of the various pieces. When clamped, the box almost squares itself. It is important to dry assemble the box first to make sure everything fits. If one uses the outside as the reference edge then and inaccuracies due to stock thickness are eliminated. Bill Schneider has posted some very good photo's (above) of biscuits being used. His biscuit table is a excellent idea. I use a biscuit joiner without a table and get great results.

In order to get square cuts from sheet goods I use the Jessem sliding table attachment.

http://www.jessem.com/mast_r_slide.htm

One has to remove the left side table wing on your saw. At first I was apprehensive about not having the wing but the convenience of the sliding table far outweighs not having the wing.

Regards,
Doug

[evilskillit]

Screws & MDF

I find that after having built a few projects I prefer not to use screws. It makes the initial assembly take a bit longer but if you want a good finish it saves a fair amount of time and work in the back end taking care of the divots the counter-sunk screw heads leave behind. Plus I guess I'm just a bit obsessive and consider it to be a matter of principal. The screws don't do anything once the glue is dry anyways so whats the point?

However, if you do want to use screws with MDF here is what I have leared. Get the right screws, good coarse wood screws that are lacking thread on the top 3/4 inch. That will keep the threads from pushing the 2 pieces of wood apart instead of using the head to pull the wood together.

Also if you want to go the extra mile they make screws specifically for MDF that have the qualities I described, plus extra corase threads that are actually serrated for extra bite, here is an example.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/39...0453_Mdf_Screw

[Robert F.]

Tools
One of the most used tools I have is the Black & Decker Workmate. It holds the parts as I use other tools on those parts

Usefull for speakers or building an astronomical telescope, or even a trebuchet.

Luck with your project and keep your eye on the blade and don't cut off your fingers!

[bemis23]

Bump for more tips. I know there's a lot more knowledge out there!!

[NoDestiny]

Good thread, some things I knew, some things I didn't.

My only thing that I can throw in there is the order in which you assemble. Always try to make it so the last piece goes on "top" of everything, that way glue always goes on properly. For instance, I usually do an enclosure with the front/back as the biggest pieces (full width and height), the top and bottom the full width, but the depth is 2x minus the wood thickness, then the sides are 2x minus wood thickness in both directions of the maximum of the box. Then, I generally do bottom to from, sides, top, then the back. Never have to "press" anything in, glue always goes on best. If you try to put the sides in last, good luck getting glue in there properly!

[Licinius]

Get a shop vac, almost every power tool you can buy can be rigged up to a vac without almost no problems, table saws, routers, jigsaws, sanders... And everything around you will rejoice.

[Bill Schneider]

And if you have a shop vac, you'll eventually want a Dust Deputy to keep the filter from becoming clogged with MDF dust.

[LHD]

Quality clamps are a must. Quality doesnt mean expensive but usually the more expensive ones are pretty nice. The only things I'm willing to buy in a harbor freight are clamps and compressor fittings. Both generally do the job pretty well but if you get a lemon can be exchanged for a good one.

Unless you're working with exactly enough material to do a job cut your sheet goods between 1/8" and 1/2" oversize. Then you can either fence cut all the peices of the same dimension at the same time or flush trim it with a router. Plus its much easier to get a nice edge when you're pushing a piece of material that's only 1/2" bigger than your finished product than a full 4x8 sheet.

That being said..

Dont cut full sheets on a table saw unless you have to. Sawhorses, a guide and a circular saw (or plunge saw kit) take a lot of the frustration out of trimming large sheets down to the sizes you need.

Make sure you account for kerf in your measurement. Are you cutting to the side of the line or cutting the line out? When you set up your measurement did you just read the number on the fence or measure between the inside edge of the blade and the fence?

Jig what you can jig anytime you can jig it. Jig.

I have a cnc router on the way that will hopefully take a lot of the minutia out of this but it alone will not make quality boxes. It still takes lots of planning and preparation. Garbage in, garbage out. Very precise garbage but garbage none the less.

[mwmkravchenko]

Hi guys.

I'm new to the forum but definitely not new to Cabinet Making. 25 years worth. And lots of speaker boxes. So my two cents is as follows.

A brad nailer or screw is used to hold parts together until the glue sets. It is the glue joint that means the most. Granted a screw has some mechanical holding power. But consider that it is only in a small location compared to a proper fitting glued joint. Brads I use regularly to hold things together until the glue sets.

Types of glue are also important. For boxes that are not directly painted to look beautiful I use PL Premium polyurethane construction adhesive. It comes in a caulking tube. It expands as it sets so it seals up any voids that you may have. It must be nailed up or screwed or something because it will expand and take apart the box if it is not held together.

Some other tips.

When using MDF and wanting to get a box that takes a nice paint job use mitered corners. The surface of MDF and the inside have different densities that take paint and absorb and release moisture at unequal rates.

Finishing of painted boxes that are supposed to look like a million bucks should have their interiors coated almost as well as their exteriors. It keeps the moisture transfer down to a minimum. The uneven transfer of moisture from inside the box to outside the box is the source of many problems when using MDF.

One other tip while I'm thinking about MDF and mitered joints.

Images not available

Beats the heck out of clamps and is dirt cheap. Good quality packing tape and masking tape can be used many times where you might use clamps.

Mark

[NoDestiny]

When assembling, jig and dry-fit like crazy before applying glue. plan where your clamps are going to go, how many to use etc. When the glue is down, the pressure is on.

I like to jig whenever I can - set up a glue so the peice can't shift. (as invariably happens when clamping a glue joint) In this pic you can see 90 degree jigs I
-clamp to the upright
-position the piece on the flat board
-clamp to the flat board
- remove clamps from the upright. After putting glue down I'll place the piece down and clamp it to the jigs.

Also not pictured (I'd removed them) I clamp 2 boards to either side of the flat board, so the upright cannot shift side to side.

I read this and decided to give it a try. My boxes are coming out straighter and seem much easier in the long run, though it does obviously take a little longer... but when doesn't quality?

[Brian Kingsbury]

I bought four 3" 90deg corner clamps from my local hardware store for ~$8 each and they really simplify gluing. They're not a perfect 90deg by themselves but they do keep things clean and steady while I get everything lined up and clamped with my other tools.

[David LR]

Removable Baffles

Hi-

Seems like a very appropriate thread to ask these questions. I am making a pair of the Zaph ZMV5's for my daughter. Would like to go the removable baffle route & could use some tips on baffle construction.

The baffle is constructed of two thicknesses of 3/4 MDF. My table saw & skill set require that I make them slightly oversize & then use the to flush trim . As far as I can tell, I"ll need some way to temporarily but firmly attach the baffle to the box in order to properly do the flush trim. Any ideas on attachment methods ??

Thought of using clamps but couldn't clamp all four sides at once as they woud get in they way of the router. Probably would clamp the long sides, trim both ends, then clamp the ends, remove original clamps & trim the sides. Seems clumsy though, I can see the clamps still getting in the way, small box-big router.

Also thought of using double sided sticky tape. Would this hold the baffle firmly enough to the box to allow routing ? Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

In addition, there is the matter of rabbeting both the cabinet & baffle edges to allow an inset baffle. So, how do you all do this ?? Seems to me you could rabbet the appropriate cabinet edges before assembly. Or, I suppose the rabbeting could be done after box assembly but I'd think it might be difficult to balance the router on an edge only 3/4 " wide.

Could the rabbeting be done on the assembled box if a router table was used ?

Ah, one more question. Since the MDF is 3/4" thick, I assume the rabbet dimensions would be 3/8" both ways, no ?? I have seen where a rabbet will be 1/2" deep but only 3/8" wide. Would allow for thicker gasket material I suppose. Any thoughts here ?


Just a few questions & thoughts. Hope I haven't been to rambling. Thanks again for your help & advice.


Dave

[Bill Schneider]

Why don't you work out the baffle mounting method, attach it with the screws you plan to use, THEN route flush? That way you don't have to worry about temporary means like tape or any possible shifting.

EDIT: Oh, wait... the rabbet on the front baffle requires a flush fit BEFORE you can do the rabbet. (Slaps forehead!) I see the issue. Never mind the above suggestion for your situation.

FWIW, on my own ZMV5 build, I didn't rabbet the front baffle, but added a slightly inset frame made from pine. The inset allowed for compression of gasket material but still permitted the baffle to lie flush with the cabinet.



The odd cutouts on the inner frame were made for clearance of driver frames, etc.

[Bill Schneider]

I'll follow up on your question about routing the rabbet on an assembled cabinet - yes, you want a router table. Tipping of the router WILL happen if you don't use a router table (or devise some complex support for the router base).

There's another factor to consider though - when you route an assembled cabinet, you will end up with round corners in the rabbet.



For a inset baffle, you could use a chisel to square up the rabbet corners, but I haven't done that.

[David LR]

Removable Baffles

Bill-

Thanks very much for responding.

"EDIT: Oh, wait... the rabbet on the front baffle requires a flush fit BEFORE you can do the rabbet. (Slaps forehead!) I see the issue. Never mind the above suggestion for your situation."

Funny. Glad you see my issue. Take it easy on the forehead though. Don't want to damage those woodworking & speaker building gray cells ! You are clearly one of the top-notch woodworkers on the forums.

What would be the problem with rabbeting the pieces before assembly ? I guess you would have to be super acccurate in your glue-up to make all the rabbeted edges line up.

Some many people use this kind of baffle, I just thought there was some common methodolgy I could make use of.

Your idea of the inset frame would work I think. I assume the additional internal volume taken by the frame is negligible & would not impact the required volume per Zaph's design.

[Bill Schneider]

What would be the problem with rabbeting the pieces before assembly ? I guess you would have to be super acccurate in your glue-up to make all the rabbeted edges line up.

That works great IF you plan to cut miters for the joints. Here's an illustration that shows why...



In example A showing miters (in gray), you can see that you get a nice right-angle recess for a baffle to nest into. The rabbet is cut into the entire length of the edge, but doesn't leave any gaps.

In example B, cutting a rabbet for the full length of the piece would leave a gap in a butt-joint. Not good.

In example C, using a typical 1-1/2" diameter rabbeting bit with interchangeable bearings, you could try to stop the cut as short as possible, but still you run into the problem of a gap.

I didn't show a potential example D, which is where you use a small-diameter bit, a fence for the router table, and cut LESS than half-way through the material i.e., you cut a rabbet less than 3/8" deep on 3/4" MDF. That could work, but you'll have to sketch it out to scale to see the possibilities.

Keep in mind also that pre-rabbeted boxes must be assembled very square to accept a rectangular mating pieces.

Do you have your double-thickness baffles glued up yet? If not, consider making the inside piece first and fitting it into the rabbet you make, then glue on an oversize outer baffle. Then mark and cut driver openings, and flush trim the outer part.

Doing it this way means you could assemble cabs, route the rabbet in the cabinet face, then cut and trim the inner baffle piece to fit. I managed to cut round corners on the backs of my Overnight Sensations very easily using a band saw for a rough cut, then sanding to fit.



Because the part of the baffle in your build will be inside and not visible, extreme care won't be required.

[David LR]

I see what you are saying. The "pre-rabbited" edges would have the rabbet going all the way through to the front of the speaker, unless you stopped short, as you say

And yes, I have already glued up the double-thick baffles.

Well, these are for my daughter, she is never going to need to have removable baffles. I wanted to do it just do do it, to increase my skills, etc. But, maybe not this project. Need to have them done by Thanksgiving. I'll probably just glue baffles on, do the flush trim & continue. Much simpler.

By the way, Bill, if I remember right, you got started in this hobby by building a set of the North Creek Echo's. How would you compare the sound of the Echo's vs the ZMV5's ?? I ask this because I previously constructed the North Creek Ikara Ikemos.

Was always a little let down by the sound, particularly after so much work on such a small cabinet. Not bad, mind you, they can sound very good with proper material. Just not what I was expecting after reading such glowing reviews. I guess I shouldn't base my expectations on "testimonials" posted on the providers website.

[Bill Schneider]

To keep the thread on topic, I'll answer the question concerning the differences between the two speakers in a private message to you.


EDIT: David - check your private messages on the board here. You can see waiting messages in the little Welcome box on the upper right.

[Brian Walter]

Bill-

What would be the problem with rabbeting the pieces before assembly ? I guess you would have to be super acccurate in your glue-up to make all the rabbeted edges line up.

You certainly can rabbet the pieces before assembly, but as Bill pointed out there are some problems associated with that technique. I find the best bet is to do the rabbets' on the router table and route the top and bottom completely from end to end and use stopped rabbets on the sides, stopping the rabbet just short of the rabbet on the top and bottom. Then, after assembly, use a chisel to square up the corners. They make a special corner chisel for doing that http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=19422, but I don't have any experience using one so I can't comment on how well they work.

I typically don't use a rabbeting bit for making rabbets, I simply use a 1/2" or 3/4" straight cut bit and set my fence and depth of cut to whatever size rabbet I want. A good woodworker learns to use hand tools, i.e. chisels, planes, etc. along with the power tools. It's amazing how often I grab for a chisel or plane to clean up something or simply do something my power tools don't do.

Brian Walter