Cherry Ridge Woodworks

Back in 1982 I was a newlywed and setting up a shop in the basement of our first home. My income wasn’t all that great, so I was on a tight budget.

At that point in time, I was a subscriber to Woodsmith magazine. In issues 20 and 22 of that year they published plans for a router table and stand. I don’t have a photo, but I drew up a SketchUp model you can see and download here:

It’s made from a few 2×4’s, ¾” plywood, and hardboard. It has served me well all these years.

Some time ago, I added a new 1″-thick laminated top to the router table. I didn’t even bother to remove the old top. But lately, the clear acrylic insert plate was showing signs of sagging.

So I decided it was time to give this old router table a little more attention. I started by removing both tops and discarding the original top. Next, I cut out the recess to fit a larger Kreg insert plate. I used Kreg’s insert plate levelers. They’re easy to install and it means I don’t need to create a rabbeted opening for the insert plate.

With the insert plate fitted, I turned the top upside down and added a 3″-wide apron at the front and back. Finally, I added a short rail at each end to engage the top of the legs of the router table base. I redrilled pilot holes and installed the original lag screws to hold the top in place.

Now I’m back in business and will find out soon how much of an improvement this will be over my old setup.

If you appreciate the history of woodworking, you know that computers and woodworking haven’t coexisted until recently. In a former career, I was a computer geek. I got paid to teach and consult with others about how to maximize their productivity with CAD (Computer-Aided Drafting/Design) applications, specifically AutoCAD.

When I first learned CAD software back in the 1980’s I immediately started to put it to use designing woodworking projects. I would produce working drawings that I could take to the shop.

My career changed directions as I become an editor for Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines, but I still dabble with CAD software, primarily Google’s SketchUp.

So, it was with interest and sadness that I read about the passing of one of the early pioneers of the personal computer as we know it. Dr. H. Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair computer. And he was a mentor to none other than Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft. What I found most interesting was that Dr. Edwards never lost his love for tinkering and was an accomplished woodworker.

Who says woodworking and computers don’t mix.

Here’s the article in The New York Times. It’s worth reading just for the historical information.

In this post, I promised to provide an update on how my plan worked for using a threaded rod to anchor a newel post.

Overall, my plan worked, but not without some minor nuisances that always seem to happen in a home improvement project. I drilled a hole through the upstairs floor tile to accommodate the threaded rod I had epoxied into the bottom of the newel post. I shoved the rod into the hole then trekked down to the basement. Darn! The threaded rod was too close to the joist to install the large fender washer I had wanted to install. And after reviewing the situation a little closer, I decided to add some blocking to allow me to keep as much length on the threaded rod as possible. I figured this would provide more stability for the post.

You can view and download the SketchUp model below that illustrates what I did.

So I spend about a half hour cutting up some scraps of plywood to add as blocking under the post. After gluing and screwing the blocking to the joists on either side of the rod, I installed a washer, split locking washer, then a nut and carefully tightened it down. I had some help upstairs to keep the post from twisting while I tightened the nut.

It worked as planned. The newel post was solid and the customer was happy. All I had to do was glue the handrail back in place.

Stairs and Railings Step-by-Step Projects Book
Creative Homeowner presents this step-by step guide to designing and building various types of staircases and railings, including straight stairs, deck stairs and L-shaped staircases with a landing. A host of color drawings and photographs illustrate the directions. Stairs and Railings Step-by-Step Projects Book

Those who know me at all know that I’m a big fan of SketchUp. It’s a free, powerful, and easy-to-use software program that lets you design in three dimensions. You can see some of the models I’ve created by clicking here. I’ve also created a most of the SketchUp models you can download as Online Extras for ShopNotes magazine.

There’s a blog (knockoffwood.blogspot.com) I ran across that uses SketchUp to create free plans of “knock-off” furniture. Ana White takes her ideas from Pottery Barn and other catalogs and creates plans so that you can recreate the same style in your garage or basement workshop. And she uses SketchUp to generate the plans. Go take a peek at what she’s done.

And if you find something you like, let me know and I can build it for you! Just use the contact form and we’ll see what we can do.