During this same time, we have developed other jigs for helping take woodworkers further in other aspects of the craft. We listen to what woodworkers talk about when they discuss what they feel is difficult for them, or could be more efficient, and what they wished were easier.

Many woodworkers say they want to spend less time making jigs. Some say that they don’t have enough spare time, others don’t have the tools. We listened. Free time these days for most people is limited and precious, so when there is time for woodworking, most people want to maximize their outcomes making great cabinetry and furnishings.

One might wonder why we would develop tools over a period of time and not release them. It was a tough decision but a good one. It seemed odd to us to have a line of shooting boards and one widget. So we continued to develop more tools as time permitted. The original store on our website had no way to branch into categories, nor any shopping cart. Our clients had to email us to place an order and in all, it was neither a good showcase nor purchasing system. We had to upgrade it.

We developed the Evenfall Studios Woodworks Store into a new store with Shopping Cart Capabilities and Product Pages for every product. It’s easy to see, navigate, and place orders. It was exactly what we needed to showcase all the new categories in our product line. Our growing line of artisan made woodworking tools and jigs are designed to bring capability, ease and speed to the woodworker, helping them make their woodworking dreams happen, by making the most of the tooling they already have. So without further adieu…

First, we introduced the ‘Picture Frame Shooter’ late last year.

This shooting board is specialized for accurate flat mitering where a distinct profile will prohibit turning the work piece over to shoot angles for either direction. Twin Chutes right and left, two calibratable 45 degree fences for dead accurate miters, and a 90 degree fence which can be made either left or right-handed. These also have a detachable fence face for backing both short and tall materials and moldings. It is as accurate and versatile as we can make it.

Please see the ‘Picture Frame Shooter’ page for more details.

Second, we have developed the ’Lie-Nielsen 51 Chute Adapter Kit’.

The Lie-Nielsen 51 has been released and is a dedicated chute board plane. We checked into the nominal dimensions of the 51 and found that our Basic and Deluxe right hand model shooting boards can be adapted to create a ‘Chute’ in much the same way as the Stanley and upcoming LN 52 Chute Board has.

Our kit consists of two precision made rails, and stainless steel mounting hardware. The Rails are reversible; precision cut and drilled, flattened to 0.001 on each side for smooth glide, and are adjustable to compensate for manufacturing width differences. We provide two reversible rails, used one side at a time to compensate for wear which could occur over time. Store the spare for future use.

There are two ways to order. We can make this kit mount to your board with Stainless button head cap screws when you order. If you already own one of our ‘Basic’ or ‘Deluxe’ shooting boards and would like to upgrade, we can supply you to retrofit mount the rail kit similarly with machine screws, or with #10 wood screws depending on how you prefer.

If you need a very versatile and highly accurate chute style shooting board for your LN 51 shooting board plane, we have you covered.

Please see the ’Lie-Nielsen 51 Chute Adapter Kit’ page for more details.

Third, we developed the ‘Shooting Board Planing Stop’.

Safe ways of dimensioning thin stock and short stock are at a premium, and we believe hand planes are the king in this arena. As a bench hook goes, our shooting board is as strong as they come.

The shooting board planing stop was developed to help overcome the difficulties experienced when dimensioning short or thin stock. This is a 1/4-inch thick stop supplied with a pair of 1/4-20 flat head mounting screws. Simply remove the shooting board fence on any of our shooting board models and replace it with this stop. The mounting screws are countersunk and won’t interfere with your plane iron.

For dimensioning stock thinner than 1/4 inch, we recommend placing a piece of 1/8 hardboard on the shooting board base to lift the work up, allowing thicknessing from the 3/16th to 1/8th inch range.

Please see the ‘Shooting Board Planing Stop’ page for more details.

Fourth, we developed the ‘Bench End Planing Stop’.

We are really excited about this fixture! Traditionally, many woodworkers have fashioned a 3/4 – inch thick planing stop that bolts to the end of the bench, and raises into place when needed by sliding the stop up a pair of slots and tightening the mounting bolts. It works, but often fails because the slots create a weak, short grain situation in the stop that breaks due to forces applied from planing. This style of stop often looks less than attractive too, but the concept is handy, and convenient.

Our Planing Stop design approaches this challenge differently. It is a base made from 7/4 material that mounts to the end of the bench, with two to three lag bolts (depending on the model). It has a series of flat head cap screws that are spread over a set distance that can be raised as any pair, to match the width of most any board. They only need be raised a little to hold back even the largest boards. They work great on thin stock as well. You never need raise them higher than the thinnest stock, and your plane irons stay safe.

They come in three sizes and four different woods, offer higher strength, work well on both thick and thin stock and look great! The hex key adjuster stows right in the end of the fixture.

Please see the ‘Bench End Planing Stop’ page for more details.

Fifth we would like to introduce the ‘Rasping Fixture’.

The Rasping Fixture is a bench fixture that is meant to help fixture the work being shaped with rasps and files, improve ergonomics for this process, and protect the bench from damage.

It is simple to use. Just slip it over the left front corner on the bench (if you are right handed) and either clamp it in place or use a hold fast. It extends out past the edge and end of the bench.

Once in place, simply lay the object you wish to rasp over the semicircular cut out in the corner of the fixture. Gravity and finger pressure will hold the work, and then go to shaping. The angle is wonderful for the wrist and arm, and there are a lot of areas one can reach easily from this position.

The other important thing about the Rasping Fixture is that it protects the bench from slips that can cause damage. There are cleats under the edge and end of the fixture that not only help to locate it, but also protect the bench from damage. It is a wonderful accessory, particularly if you want to do work on saw handles, cabriole legs, or other work with compound curves.

Please see the ‘Rasping Fixture’ page for more details.

Sixth, we developed the ‘Disc Sander Shooter’.

The Disc Sander Shooter is a precision angle jig meant to be fitted to the tilt table of the 12 inch disc sander, enabling the sander to work 90’s 45’s and the 22.5 angles to both the right and left of center.

It allows non-square objects to lay on their flat side and be sanded on either side of 90 degrees. We increased the size of the table and the jig is calibrated with plastic drafting squares. Tilt the table down to whatever angle you need for creating compound angles.

The base measures 8 x 20 x 3/4 inches and is fixtured to the table with a miter bar and thumbscrew. It can be slid back and forth to distribute wear across the sanding disc. Like our shooting boards, all the fence mounting points are steel threaded, the fence faces are flattened to 0.001, and the thumbscrews, all three, are from Stainless and Brass.

Please see the ‘Disc Sander Shooter’ page for more details.

Seventh, We developed another jig for the 12 inch disc sander. The ‘Speedlathe’.

A lathe for a disc sander? Well yes, sort of. It is an old Patternmaker’s jig. I have spoken to several of the old patternmakers and they all agree this jig is something they all made and used the heck out of. Some of them referred to it as the Speedlathe.

What it does is make perfect circles on a disc sander. Yes a circle maker. Our speed lathe has 32, 3/16 diameter radius positions and a fine adjust lead screw that can make circles from 5/8ths to 16-5/8th in diameter.

Overall size is 8 x 17 and is also mounted in the miter slot for a pivot point. It is the fastest circle maker I have ever seen. Once you have the circles, you can use them for wheels, custom curve layout, router jigs, or wherever your imagination takes you.

Please see the ‘Speedlathe’ page for more details.

Items eight through eleven are all a series of drilling guides targeted at drilling squarely, when there is no drill press or one isn’t an option.

Often times drilling a hole that is square to the work is important. But many times the hole is located where a drill press wouldn’t help, or we need to be a bit quicker with the task than a drill press would allow. Other times there is just no easy way to jig up.

Sure, there are jigs that help us drill dowel holes, and there are jigs we can mount to a drill, but they are not always the answer either. Our drilling jigs are designed to accommodate the situation where a hole drilled squarely and quickly is needed and most of these jigs will work with either egg beater drills, braces, or hand drills.

Number Eight, The ‘Dog Hole Square Drilling Guide’.

Designed for auger bits, this is two inches of squarely drilled guide that can get the auger started properly. It comes with a nine-inch tang so you can fixture it while drilling. Bench dogs come with a sloped face, so the hole needs be drilled straight for best results. This jig is the squaring device hitting the mark with your brace.

Please see the ‘Dog Hole Square Drilling Guide’ page for more details.

Number Nine, The ‘Forstner Bit Square Drilling Guide’.

For all the same reasons we’ve gone over, even Forstner bits need help getting started squarely. The odd shape of the shanks and their many diameters make guiding these bits a challenge. Fortunately this odd looking jig will trap the bit’s shaft on three side to help keep it square and steady your hand. Accommodates Forstners to 2-1/4 in Diameter.

Please see the ‘Forstner Bit Square Drilling Guide’ page for more details.

Number Ten, The ‘Medium Drill Squaring Guide’.

This guide is targeted at twist drills and brad points, providing 3/4 of an inch of squarely drilled guide that help the bits off to a square start. You can remove the guide quickly once a square hole is started to aid drilling a deeper hole.

This jig is shown as a prototype in Baltic Birch, but will be supplied in Aluminum. The five hole sizes are 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2.

Please see the ‘Medium Drill Squaring Guide’ page for more details.

And Finally Eleventh, the ‘Screw Pre-drill Squaring Guide’.

This guide is targeted at twist drills and the bits that came with Egg Beater Drills, and is primarily meant for pre-drilling holes for woodscrews, but there are many other adaptable uses. This jig provides 3/4 of an inch of squarely drilled guide that help the bits off to a square start. You can remove the guide quickly once a square hole is started to aid drilling a deeper hole.

This jig is shown as a prototype in Baltic Birch, but will be supplied in Aluminum. The eleven hole sizes run from 5/64 – 15/64 inch, in 1/64th inch diameter increments.

Please see the ‘Screw Pre-drill Squaring Guide’ page for more details.

That’s what’s new for now, but rest assured there are more ideas in the queue that we hope to be able to release in the near future.

Please feel free to go and have a look around in the new store on our website, and see if there isn’t something in there that might be useful to helping you woodwork better and easier!

Happy Woodworking!

While a lot can be done with these, a common application is for use in workbench base construction. Real life happens. People move, circumstances change. Sometimes the dream shop in the basement relocates to a garage or an outbuilding. Many of us cannot build a bench with the certainty of knowing it will never need to be easily transported to elsewhere at some future point. This makes the use of steel or brass cross dowels a wonderful option.

While this article is about what it takes to install cross dowels, due to popular demand I have researched and included links to what I feel are the best sources for this hardware in it’s various sizes out there. The links are included at the end of this article.

It is notable that bench building is enjoying a renaissance right now. some great new designs, vises and hardware packages have recently become available.

Amongst these offerings, a top of the line All Steel Cross Dowel Package has been made available by Benchcrafted. They are marketed as Benchcrafted Barrel Nuts, and they are the best product available to the bench builder. Unlike any other cross dowel meant for use with benches, these are all steel for heavy duty applications and the design allows the installer to align them with fingers during assembly. These are top quality, a great value and installation doesn’t get simpler.

Ok, if you already have your hardware in hand, then layout for cross dowels in knock down bench legs works like this. If you have not obtained the parts you need, please consider waiting until you have it in hand.

Lay your two legs and cross piece on the bench, Inside face facing up, already milled, mortised and tenoned, and dry fit them. Clamp them top and bottom to hold the unit together with enough force so that things will not move while you perform the layout, and check them for square. Make sure you have them square.

If you have a Veritas saddle square, or equivalent, that would be handy, but if you don’t, no matter, here is a work around:

Position the leg assembly by allowing it to hang over the edge of your bench and support it with a something like a telescopic roller stand. Take a six-foot length of string line and tie a nut or a heavy washer on each end for weight, and drape it over the leg assembly, along the centerline of the crosspiece. This string line forms somewhat of a double-ended plumb bob, which will indicate the centerline of your layout work and will project these lines around corners. You can eyeball centerline of your work piece or measure. Once the string is located, go ahead and put a piece of blue painters tape on each end near the corners where it drapes over the edge.

The best position for the cross dowel on the bolt is at the end of the bolt with all the threads in the nut fully engaged. The formula for figuring cross dowel hole location from any combination of length and diameter hardware is to take the working length of the bolt (which differs if the cap screw is hex head, allen head, button head or flat head) and subtract half the diameter of the cross dowel from that length to find hole centerline for the cross dowel. The length of the bolt, when you are choosing the length optionally, is best determined by the thickness of what it has to pass through on the bolt head side, plus 1-1/4 inches minimum into the adjoining board for cross dowel centerline.