Sampling of WOOD's Top Tips, Part 2

While making several memorial flag cases for my nephew's Marine Corps unit, I realized that gluing and clamping a 45° corner is not as easy as it seems. After a little thought, I came up with the solution you see here.

The location of the angled notches isn't critical; simply set the scrap a couple of inches above the bottom piece on the dry-assembled flag case and then mark where the sides cross. I used my radial-arm saw to make the 3"-deep, 45° notches.

When you're ready to assemble, use a standard 90° clamp on the square corner. For the bottom angles, slide the clamping jig over the sides and clamp, as shown. If you use biscuits or splines in the joints, you won't have to worry about the corners slipping.

—Ray Girard, Gainesville, Fla.

You can buy more expensive ones, but pipe clamps are still my "go-to" clamp for large glue-ups. But the Achilles heel of the pipe clamp has always been the challenge of keeping clamp pads in place while you position the jaws. While this task is bad enough for a lay-down glue-up, it's a real headache when gluing vertically. I finally solved the problem by creating the magnetic wooden pads shown.

To make a batch of pads, start by cutting out 2" squares of 1/4" plywood. Next, drill a 1/2" hole 1/8" deep in the center of each pad. In the hole, epoxy a 1/2" rare-earth magnet (item no. 30810, Rockler, 800-279-4441 or rockler.com). The pads cling to your clamps' jaws, and you can store them on any steel surface in your shop.

—Gordon English, Salt Spring Island, B.C.

Here's a quick way to precisely center a router in a router table insert plate. After cutting the insert to the proper size, mark its center and drill a 1/2" hole there. With a 1/2" O.D. guide bushing mounted in your router's subbase-without the router attached-fit the bushing into the hole on the bottom of the insert and orient the subbase to ensure that the router controls are in reach and any through-the-table height adjustment holes are toward the front. Mark the locations of the screw holes, drill and countersink to fit the subbase screws, and use a 1 1/2" Forstner bit to enlarge the center hole. Then, mount the router to the insert plate and you're ready to rout.

—Bob Hunter, WOOD® Magazine Tools Editor

When I needed to cut biscuit slots in the ends of 3/8" slats, it was necessary to hold them dead-solid and centered to keep the joiner's blade from blowing out a surface of the thin stock.

This guide jig uses a layer of MDF and two pieces of scrap stock to form a workpiece-sized slot that guides the slat end precisely into the joiner.

—Jim Culler, Bellville, Ohio

To square my disc sander's table to the disc, I use an inexpensive welding magnet (Harbor Freight, harborfreight.com, item #1939). The powerful magnet holds the table at 90° while I tighten the table-locking bolt.

—Michael Cyr, Westport, Mass.

As a woodshop teacher, I believe in "jigging up" to make projects easy and repeatable, especially because each operation will be repeated by 20-25 students in each class. That's why I loved your drawer-pull jig in the May 2010 issue (page 16). The version I use in my class has one handy improvement: A V-shaped centering window, as shown, makes the jig work even if the drawers are different sizes. Just center your line in the window, drill, and repeat.

—Shane Burk, Lubbock, Texas