Page 82 - Australian Wood Review №103 2019

PROJECT
16
13
17
14
15
13. Flip the strip end to end 17. Find the centreline of
on the saw to sharpen the the beam, and screw the
opposite end. chisel-edge block with its
point in the centre.
14. Rip the chisel-edge block 18. Apply the same amount of
in half, and cross cut them pressure of the pointy end
to about 500mm long. against the corners of the
workpiece when marking
15. A round profile was the lines.
traced on one end and
then shaped on the 19. If the diagonal lines do not
shooting board. overlap, the work is out of
square by half the amount
16. The longest diagonal beam of the diagonal difference.
featured is about 150cm 20. Stop the clamping
long; use thicker stock, correction as soon as the
25 x 25mm, for example, corner lines up in the middle
if longer beams are made. of the two pencil lines.
82 Australian Wood Review
tool to test whether a carcase is square. But their designs
share the same inadequacy as the pinch rods: after each
adjustment of the assembly, you need to remeasure the
diagonals and compare them, back and forth as many
times as needed until the case is confirmed square.
Retired woodworker James Gauntlett had a clever
solution to the trial-and-error method: instead of
sharpening the beam to a point, he made a chisel-edge
block and mounted it underneath the beam.
The modification allowed him to place the beam on the
assembly and observe the changes in squareness as he
repositioned and adjusted the clamps (photo 10).
This is more superior to other diagonal methods.
The modified diagonal beams are easy to make in a
few steps. Choose a stable, straight-grained hardwood
to make the diagonal strips of 200 x 200mm (photo
11). After ripping all the strips on the tablesaw, cut the
chisel-edge blocks out of one of them to about 50° on
the mitre saw (photos 12, 13, 14). Round one end of
the beams to indicate where the blocks are mounted
(photos 15). Finally, ease all the sharp edges and
attach the blocks to the strips with glue and screws
(photos 16, 17).
In use, place the beam diagonally across the face of a
carcase and mark the first diagonal dimension with a pencil