Q & A

Tim Inman:  I think your questions will all be answered if you'll just make up a “quickie” shooting board and give it a try.  In fact, I'd require it if you were one of my students.  Before you spend time and materials making the “perfect” shooting board, try some things to see what you like and want in your final effort.  You'll be surprised how easy they are to use, how simple they really are - and you'll wonder how you ever got along without one.  I have a couple of them hanging on my shop wall.  I often use the one that is ugly just because it works better than the one that is pretty. 

To answer your specific questions, you will plane a little bit of the shooting board clamp, but only a few thousandths - the thickness of the curl.  If you'll look at the sole of the plane, the cutting iron sticks out from a little “window” which surrounds it.  The metal on the edge of the window makes a “stop” so the plane can't keep digging into the shooting board.  The depth of the cutter setting on the plane need not be exactly the same each time.  It will be pretty close, though, because you'll usually plane off about the same amount each time.  Veneer is pretty easy to “overpower” by hand, so super precision isn't too important with the shooting board. 

A veneer shooting board is actually such a simple tool most authors probably don't recognize what a mystery it might be to someone who has never used or seen one.  Thus, they fail to fill in the details that are so obvious to them.  Again, my best advice: don't overthink this.  Just make up a rude-crude shooter, and give it a try.  Then you'll know what you want.  The clamping part is the most important detail to me - and it never gets mentioned.  Now go out and make one!

I made a benchtop that includes my radial arm saw out of MDF. What is the best product to use to seal or finish the MDF?

Tim Inman:  Short answer: Formica.  Longer answer: Plastic laminate. Really. This is a great place for a melamine, mylar, or phenolic type laminate surface.  That said, virtually any sealer will work.  MDF is like a sponge, so it will soak up quite a bit of finish at first.  Let it drink, and be prepared to apply more than one coat.  Scuff sand, then recoat to get a smooth “gliding” work surface.  Here's another tip you might consider if you're wanting a surface that will let the work slip and slide.  Floor sealers made especially for bowling alley maintenance usually include some “slipping” agents to keep things moving along.  They are very tough, and quite durable.  I once used such a product that had powdered Teflon® included in it.  It made a great working surface.  Check with flooring contractors or your local bowling alley to find a source.

Chris Marshall: I'll take a different approach from Tim on this one - but I don't disagree with his reasoning. If this bench isn't one you plan to hand down to the next generation, and it's just a workaday shop fixture, a finish isn't absolutely mandatory. Adding a protective topcoat will make glue drips and other shop liquids easy to clean up, no question about it. But, MDF actually has a pretty durable surface all on its own. I've had a worktable in my shop with an MDF top on it for at least a decade, and it has no finish on it. It's still going strong. I recommend that you edge your bench with hardwood. MDF's edges aren't nearly as tough as the faces.

Joanna Werch Takes: The “rules” to which you are referring are the law known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Due to much confusion and concern about issues like those you presented, the date on which the law goes into effect has been delayed again: requirements for third party certifications of testing for lead and phthalates in most children's items now do not go into effect until Feb. 10, 2011.

This has been aimed at manufacturers of items for children ages 0 to 12; you are right that the question of how this law will impact, or whether it will affect, woodworking organizations which donate toys is unclear. Your best source of information is likely the Handmade Toy Alliance, which was covered in this Woodworker's Journal eZine article.

The push for component testing addressed in that article – so that a finished piece can be tested, rather than each component used in it – has also been adopted. Still, good record-keeping of products made, and items used in their making, seems to be a good idea to follow any documentation required by the law.

You can find further contact information for the Handmade Toy Alliance here: http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/ And the Consumer Product Safety Commission's summaries of the CPSIA here: http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.html

Tim Inman:  I rely on my suppliers.  I figure if they can sell it to me, labeled for use on toys, then I can safely use it.  Keep a record of your work, and keep working.