(upbeat bluegrass music) - Greetings!

Welcome to season 30 in "The American Woodshop."

I'm Scott Phillips.

You'll see Suzy later in the season.

And today's featured project I grew up with.

More on that story in a second, but it's a beauty of a display cabinet.

So stick around, we'll make one together.

- [Announcer] "The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips" is brought to you by.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsman.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(uplifting classical music) (invigorating percussive music) - [Announcer] Pro tools for tool pros.

RIKON tools.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft Magazine, projects, plans and web links, designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish silicon steel bandsaw blades and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on, (upbeat music) a table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- When I was a boy, five years old, I'd go to the local candy store, Canes, they had penny candies, imagine that.

And the candy of the week would be displayed in this very case, so I grew up with that.

Well, Canes went outta business years ago, but I got the case, and this is a gem.

Used to store candy, now it stores other things, candy of my own, the tools, the carvings.

And I bet you can find a dozen different ways to use this because it's a perfect size to set on a countertop, even into shelves.

It's 14 inches square, and this one's 35 inches tall.

I'm gonna make mine slightly taller, 38.

So we do that by using red oak and staining the red oak.

And I have to build the door heavy duty down at the bottom.

But then all the other parts are very easy to make.

Starts over at the planner.

Let's get to it.

(wood whooshing) (machine whirring) Take a look at at that.

My goodness.

That surface is just so smooth.

Now that's done on a helical head planer, and that cutterhead, when it turns off, you can see all these individual cutters on it that are solid carbide.

And the cool thing about these cutters is they have four sharp surfaces.

And if one of them gets nicked by, say, a knot or nail, you just use a wrench with it, unplugged naturally, and rotate it 90 degrees, you're back in business.

It's changed planing on everything that I do because I barely need to sand it, it's just that smooth.

The other thing is this is red oak, and that is right spot on three quarters of an inch, which is what I want for all the red oak on this project.

Now one thing that people talk about is, "How can you tell red oak from white oak?"

Well, one way is if you take thin cross sections, and you hold the red oak up, I'll turn this on, you can see through it because the springwood does not have balloons in it called tyloses like the white oak does.

You cannot see through white oak, and that's why they make everything from barrels to ships out of white oak.

The USS Constitution, white oak.

Now that's it on red oak.

It's carefully selected.

So it's got good straight grain, stays straight, and wood selection is everything, and it doesn't matter what size of your project.

And that being said, one of the big projects of the season is outside, let's go take a look.

(machine whirring) Cordless circular saws.

This thing works all day on one charge.

Now whatever you do, be sure to read, understand and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use.

Work safely.

Now I wanna show you something.

This is an aerial picture of where we are right now.

And what I'm doing is, in between my main woodshop right here, which is 110 feet long, and this old barn that was built in 1840 is the concrete pad that you see behind us.

And I had it poured six inches thick with footers around the edge, called a monolithic pour, so I can build a structure on it.

That was in 2001.

So, well, 21 years ago.

So now I'm going to build a shelter over this, nice and tall, because I have a beautiful Sea Skiff boat that, well, Suzy's off right now.

She's in Ireland, and before she gets back, I'm hoping to get this built and maybe get the boat that I'm going to restore under it.

And that will be a season-long project that you get to look at.

So with that being said I wanna show you one thing on making your own trusses, come with me.

I'm saving a fortune by building out the trusses.

I just had the top caps right there that stop there.

I put 14-foot rafters essentially on top of those caps, and I use polyurethane glue.

Now a day later, you'll have squeeze-out, and when you do, just use a sharp chisel and chisel it away.

You don't wanna put that up under a rafter, that'd be bad.

And so polyurethane glue, when you're building out rafters like this is a way to go, underneath, and then you use a framing nailer right here with 3 1/4 inch long nails.

And when you nail, don't go straight through.

Nail it at an angle, toe it in and reverse it left and right, and it'll be good.

Now couple things, when you're using pneumatic air nailers, always wear side shields with safety glasses.

These are full-time safety glasses.

Always wear hearing protection.

They go up to 90 decibels.

And the other thing is then make sure, before you put up the side posts, to carry these trusses now that we've built, that you've got everything planned so that when you buy the extra lumber you need, you have minimal waste.

Have a good plan, comply to building codes, and Bob's your uncle.

Now let's get inside and build that candy tower together.

You'll see more on this project down the road.

Boy, Suzy's gonna be surprised.

(wood whooshes) (machine whirring) Now, give that blade of chance to come to a complete stop.

Turn off the dust collector.

And what I'm doing is using a good 50-tooth combination blade.

That's a great cut.

This edge had already been straight line ripped, so those edges are parallel.

And this is two and a half inches thick, like that.

And then I've ripped down red oak to inch and a half thickness, that's 38 inches long there.

And for the door frame bottom and the front of the case, which is identical and looks and dimension to this, except it's an eighth of an inch wider, meaning that's an eighth of an inch longer down here, that piece is 3 1/2 inches in width.

All three-quarter-inch thick stock.

Then to do the groove, what I have to do is unplug the saw, and then I'll remove the guard, so this is unplugged.

(machine whirring) Get a good push block so you can hold the work piece against the fence.

And then you make that cut right in the middle of all the work pieces on the inside edges.

And once that's done, it's over to the miter saw to cut it to the finish length.

(wood churns) (machine whirring) Now let that come to a stop.

Bring that up, that laser sure makes it nice in that stop right there.

So that's 11 5/8, 3 1/2 inches wide.

Grooves on edge.

Grooves on edge inside, 38 inches long and 2 1/2 inches.

That needs to be 11 5/8.

Now let's take all the parts over to the assembly table and see how these come together.

(wood whooshes) I've taken some liberties to make this whole process easier.

This is the dry assembly.

And with everything cut to the right length and everything cut square, and that's key for these joints, for these individual pieces to all come together and make it solid and make it right.

Now what I'll do is deconstruct this.

So I'm taking out the back door panel first.

You've seen that before.

And now that all these pieces are screwed together, I'm going to pull this apart because it has been biscuited together.

And you go, "What's a biscuit?"

Okay, and I have to be careful.

And you see that little ellipse of plywood right there?

That's called a biscuit.

And it goes into slots that are cut, and I'll show you how to do that in a second.

But before we do that, I'll take these parts off, left and right, and use blue painter's tape and a permanent marker to label things.

Don't write on your wood because you can sand that, the graphite goes into the wood and contaminates the look once you finish it.

So you look at this and you go, "Wait a minute, I don't understand."

I don't blame you, and that's why we're going to deconstruct this.

And on the ends right here, these are counterbored holes.

And I'll back the screws out, and you're going to see what's going on here as I take that two inch screw out.

And the reason we're using biscuits and screws is it's a very affordable way to build this project.

So watch what happens here.

Slide this out of the way, and we bring this up, lay this flat.

And it's nice to have an assembly table like this where you can keep the frame square, and let's get that square back here.

So when you butt all these parts together, and then you use what's called a holdfast, which has been around for centuries, piece of cast iron slip, easy way to go.

Gotta get my hearing protection in for the biscuit cutter.

But remember, let's take that other screw out right now too, just like that.

And those pockets will get holes.

Drill deep enough like this.

You keep all that square.

Slide this down to the holdfast like that.

And then with a good mallet, you tap it down.

That holds it in place.

And now (drill whirring) you can see that that is drilled in nice and deep.

And that's so I can drive those screws (blows) in then put wooden plugs in there.

And this is a reversible joint.

So if the glass would break, you could take that apart and repair it that way.

Don't overtorque the screws.

Cause in red oak, it could split things out like that.

And that's something you want to avoid.

You don't want any splits in your wood.

And so that's how you screw the frames together.

What could be simpler, okay?

So you just make all four frames like that.

This is the bottom left.

This is two inches, that's an inch and a half all the way around.

And I've already got glass ready for that.

But let me show you how to cut the biscuit slots.

(machine whirring) And that's on dust collection.

And that just cut that slot.

And I have marks corresponding on the pieces of wood, like this right here to butt into that.

Watch what happens here.

Bring that up.

Keep the fence, which is right here, down to the wood and the face, which is right here.

You can see the cutter.

How about that?

That makes that a round cut.

(machine whirring) Just like that.

And that makes into the mating piece on the MDF.

And if these have swollen up, because these are made outta plywood, makes it nice and strong and sometimes they expand a bit because of moisture, just sand them lightly with 100 grit and they'll go right in.

Wipe it clean before you glue it up.

And that's how you make all the biscuit cuts.

Now look at that.

This is that MDF material.

And it's been veneered with architectural-grade red oak veneer, so that matches.

And the reason you use that, if these were solid boards glued up, the wood expands and contracts in a moist environment, like the Midwest, about an eighth of an inch per foot in a year's time, so it can destroy itself with that much movement.

MDF is dimensionally stable, and this red oak is just gorgeous stuff.

It's a bit pricey.

When you do mill it, make sure you mill it on a table saw with good dust collection, 'cause you do not want to breathe that stuff.

In fact with wood dust, just be careful.

So I'll go ahead and finish making all the biscuit cuts.

And then once that's done, we'll do the assembly back here, and we're rounding the bend.

But all the joints have to be reversible right now because we need to put the glass in.

But before we do that, we're going to sand and finish outside.

(machine whirring) So look at this, left and right of this bottom piece.

13 1/8 by 13 5/8, is MDF again, veneer, good face is up, it's marked bottom.

And these pockets right here, you know, they really aren't an ellipse, they're just part of a circle, that four-inch cutter in that biscuit joiner.

Get glue in the middle of this, and then glue gets brushed out along both of these edges to just have the right amount of glue without having a bunch of squeeze-out that would contaminate the finish.

True or false, you use wet rag to get this water-based glue that squeezes out off the wood?

True or false?

It's false.

Never use a water-based rag, because what happens is it dissolves the glue that squeezes out and then all of a sudden, and I have glue on these mating pieces, all of a sudden you can't see it and you get squeeze-out that contaminates the surface even when you sand it slightly.

And I have those biscuits all lined up right there.

And yet I have one more thing I have to do, and that is work this, clock's ticking, around this top work piece right here.

Has glue along the edges, ready to roll, and it has biscuits all lined up.

And this is where you hold your breath because it's just like, dagonit all, ladies and gentlemen.

It's just a challenge to get everything lined up the right way And then you gotta have a good mallet to tap this home.

Do the front like that.

And how about that?

That worked.

And then I need to get clamps on these corners.

Let's see, like so, to draw that front door nice and tight.

Let's slide those forward.

And, so that's clamped and that's tight.

That looks good.

I'll rob this clamp now, do the same.

Lighter clamps are going to go up top.

And once this whole assembly is squared up and clamped, and that looks good right there, have to tap in the bottom piece like that.

And those biscuits do swell up a bit with that moisture in the glue.

Then what we can do is get on to doing the bit of veneer work that we need to do on that edge.

So that looks good right there.

That's nice and tight.

So let's do that right now.

This is the MDF architectural-grade red oak right there.

And you can see I have it edge banded all the way around, except for this back edge.

And that's unsightly.

So this is glue on the back that is activated with heat.

And you stretch out the veneer.

And if you're living right, watch what happens.

You use the iron of the one you love, 'cause this really doesn't hurt it one bit.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And on the linen setting, and that heat melts the glue.

And what you do is you iron that on.

And watch what I do on the ends.

I just snap that veneer down, worry it off.

And that gives you an edge that you sand a little bit.

And then this edge is flush.

Look at the overhang on that.

And what I do is I use a utility knife.

I'm gonna break that end off right there like that.

And I've done enough of this to know that what I'm sharing with you is no-nonsense way to make this work without special tools.

A little bit of sanding on all these parts.

And once that glue cures, bit of sanding, and then from there, once it's sanded, outside to do the finish.

(machine whirring) (wood rattling) The key to a good finish is make sure the surface prep is perfect, get it clean.

Now I'm using a combination, 1/3 golden oak, 2/3 black walnut Danish oil to give me a look.

I've experimented, I've blended the two.

And you use an all-cotton 100% cotton rag, and you wipe that off.

I use a brush, then I wipe it down.

And this gives me the desired look that I want on oak.

It's not too dark, not too light.

Here's a quick quiz.

Will this get darker over time?

The answer is light woods get darker with reaction to ultraviolet light over time and dark woods get lighter.

So being a light wood, this will get darker.

So I don't want to make it too dark.

So look at that.

That just looks grand.

That's red oak.

And the other thing is, once I get the color on, I topcoat this with the natural Danish oil.

That's the finish part of it.

Most people stop at the stain, which says the color.

But if it says natural, that's the Danish oil topcoat.

And whatever you do, make sure you get rid of all rags safely outside because it can spontaneously combust.

You open it up, let it air dry away from children and animals.

And once it's really hard, then you can throw it away safely.

Keep it outta your house, work safely.

I'll get this done then let it dry.

Then it's on to putting it all together.

This is fantastic.

Now I have not glued together parts of the assembly so I could slide the glass in carefully.

I like to use full-strength glass.

What does that mean?

Eighth inch.

Get it cut to size at your local glass shop.

That looks really good right there.

And now I can bring the final piece up.

Mate it all together like that.

And then, and don't be handling that glass without leather gloves, be careful.

And then I can draw all this together with those square drive screws.

(drill whirring) (wood churning) Love that sound.

That means the pilot hole was perfect in that red oak and that it won't split out.

So what we're going to do, I want to show you-- (wood churning) Perfect.

Do the shelves, which are polycarbonate, 3/8 of an inch, pricey stuff.

You can cut that out on the bandsaw.

But let me close the door, show you a couple other things here on this cabinet.

And that is zero Mortise hinges that just go into that eighth inch gap.

And then to drill the shelf support holes, this is quarter inch hole pegboard, one inch space, cut to size.

And I just located those holes, and wherever there's a dark line, I drew a corresponding hole for the shelf mounting bracket.

Okay, so the brackets go in just like this.

Let me see here if you can see that.

And I'll get those all set up.

Dressed up, top and bottom on, final reveal.

(wood whooshing) Check this out.

It all comes together beautifully.

And these light pucks with batteries are good for 70 hours.

I've checked and true to their word, and turned that on with remote.

Very affordable with that.

And then these red oak tapered plugs are the way that I finish off the case.

I'll put a bit of stain on that.

And because that's drilled just right, goes flush.

Well that's it.

The candy display case from Canes with a story.

And whenever you do in the woodshop, make it your own story, if it's true or not.

(laughs) See you next time in the American Woodshop.

Join us next week.

We do a beautiful live edge bench.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsman.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(uplifting classical music) (invigorating percussive music) - [Announcer] Pro tools for tool pros.

RIKON tools.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft Magazine, projects, plans and web links, designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish silicon steel bandsaw blades and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on, (upbeat music) a table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information on tips behind "The American Woodshop" and watch free episodes 24/7, check us out online and like us on Facebook.

(upbeat bluegrass music)