The Burgess Edge System

I feature here a set of two paired router bits - must be purchased as a set actually - that I've had for at least a decade but not discussed a lot, perhaps in passing, in previous blogs because I figured there is little interest in it, if even familiar to most woodworkers. When I ordered it way back then I actually spoke with the inventor and maker of this set, Michael Burgess, who convinced me that it was, and indeed it is, the best way to edge-band 3/4 inch plywood. Plywood, 3/4 inch, is a very stable stock for wide large projects, such as cabinets and table tops. The one drawback is the exposed edge. There are a number of ways to cover the edge (i.e, veneer and edge-bands) but the most effective is to create a channel on the plywood edge and a matching moulding on a solid wood material, which is then glued and clamped to the main body. There are probably two or three other  edge "systems" commercially available but the Burgess is far superior, albeit costly.  But it is worth the expense.

Obviously, in the past I've always used this system to treat 3/4 inch plywood edges; however, for this project I used it using solid hardwood for the main piece and the edge-band.  I've done several, a dozen or more by now, cutting boards using different techniques. This time, I chose marble wood - a favorite - edge-banded with walnut.

It is always 2-part process and the router table is a must.

I usually treat the "end" part of the big work piece first, then the long sides.

I used polyurethane glue for its water-proof characteristic. (Apply the glue just one side and water-wet the mating piece, then clamp)

The glue up pieces were slightly over-sized, then cross-cut and ripped to final dimension. This is the best way to insure a flat and parallel edges.

The juice channels and finger holds along the edges were also done on the router table with bull nose bits.

Below are some the other cutting boards over the years.  This is the first time I used the Burgess Edge System.  It is worth to have this if you already have a router table with at least a 2-hp motor or bigger, even if only for 3/4 inch plywood applications.

Case of Two Mallets

The workshop and kitchen mallets shown below were done at the same time from similar scrap wood except for the white polyvinyl face. Most wood workers prefer using a solid piece of material for the mallet head. Laminating thinner pieces to make a mallet head has three advantages: narrow pieces are cheaper, more so when using scrap material; laminating makes a stronger and bigger piece free from cracking or warping; mortises can be achieved simply by creating a space in between the lamination during glue-up.  And mixing wood species allow for a more attractive two-tone appearance.

Many years ago I did make one mallet I call "the enforcer" (below) because it has the heft of Thor's hammer. I had used it considerably and it had its purpose but for light duty work I used commercial rubber mallet or brass hammers.  Since I wanted to make a kitchen mallet I thought I'd make a light duty wooden mallet as well.

It's time to use some of the left over scrap hardwoods (red cherry,white mahogany, white oak and walnut) lying around the workshop. 

Liberal amount of glue and several clamps make for good lamination of four narrow pieces.

Hand planing a small work piece is fun to do although the power planer would have been much quicker.

If the mallet head were a solid piece a mortise had to be cut to accommodate the handle. Lamination makes it a lot easier to create a mortise by simply allowing the desired amount of space between lamination as shown below.

To add mass to the mallet head I had used short pieces cut from a steel bolt.  Four were used in the big mallet I did years ago  but only two in the light duty mallets. The steel bolt pieces may not seem like much but the kinetic energy generated during the strike is substantial.

2-part epoxy and wooden dowels will secure the bolt pieces snugly.

Below are old cutting boards - a white hard plastic and end grained bamboo. The face of the kitchen mallet will have the white vinyl and the workshop mallet will have the bamboo face.

Tip: Below is the safest way to slice a thin wide piece of material.  I do not recommend running the piece along the saw fence with one's bare hand.

Another tip: - A small shop-made sled is the safest way to cut small pieces shown below.

Polyurethane glue is ideal for joining dissimilar materials and it is water proof.

Tip: (Photo below) A slight taper on the mortise so that it flares out slightly will insure a tight fit as the wedge is driven. Glue smeared to the inside of the mortise and on the wedge will secure the handle to the head.

The light duty workshop mallet will be ideal for striking chisels or wedges for joinery.

 The white plastic cutting board had held up well against sharp knives so striking the back of a cleaver  was no problem.  I prefer using a mallet for a well placed clean cut on fish, ribs, chicken and duck.

Floating Shelf

I needed an additional platform to contain a monitor and video recorder for the home security camera. It will be in a nearly crowded corner of the library where my wife's desktop computer and printer are located.  This called for a floating shelf attached to the two adjacent walls (corner) requiring no support bracket.  The torsion box construction (which had been discussed in past blogs) is the natural lightweight but rigid structure. Introduced here a new after market tool (fixture) designed for the table saw (yellow item, 3rd photo below) that makes cutting the dadoes for the skeletal frame without marking and measuring (believe it or not).

A rough sketch of the skeleton structure of the shelf helps to locate the cross joinery.

1- inch work pieces were ripped on the table saw.  The fixture in yellow allows for perfectly accurate indexing of the dadoes.  I can still cut those dadoes by marking the pieces one by one but this inexpensive indexing tool makes the cut uniformly, accurately, and rapidly.  See next three photos.

The cross pieces fastened by clamps and glue (no nails or screws needed)

The joinery of the cross members are tight and consistently accurate.

The torsion box is defined by the skeleton and a cladding of thin 1/4 inch plywood.  Tip: a cross cut sled makes cutting the wide pieces safely and accurately (next two photos below). 

Liberal amount of glue was applied to the skeleton as shown below.

A pneumatic pin nailer does a great job of  keeping the plywood skin tightly in place until the glue dries.

The floating shelf relies on an anchor in the form of two pieces in the L-configuration attached very securely to the wall.  The shelf has two channels that will allow the shelf to slide into them.

Two adjacent sides of the shelf have 1-1/4 inch channels that will slide into the support brackets (next three photos below).

The brackets are fastened with long screws into the studs behind the drywall. It is critical that the brackets are attached that way. 

I drilled the holes for the cables and power cords to go through from the cameras and router to the recorder and monitor.

A special attachment to the drill (shown below) makes it easy to drive screws without the drill chuck hitting the wall.  This attachment is solely for this purpose (an impossible task if one must drive the screws at 90 deg vertical right next to a wall).  This is one of those accessories that seldom get used but very critical when the work calls for it. (One option is to just nail it down and glued - making the shelf permanently installed - only a major renovation will move it)

It is important to note that the floating shelf is a torsion box because: (a) it must be light weight; (b) it is rigid as to withstand flexing or bending from the load. The floating shelf construction has been around for a while but the torsion box construction here was done with the new indexing fixture.

Additional Tips for laying out the camera cables.

(1) Use a glue gun to secure the wires to both bricks, concrete or dry wall.  It is a lot neater without the unsightly staples, nails or screws.

The shop made wooden "grommets" (rectangles as shown will be painted later)

The cable here is visible but it is in the laundry area (no space in the attic area to comfortably lay it out from there).  Nevertheless, a glue gun keeps it neat and secured.