"WoodRat — New Projects and Uses"

	There is a lot to do with the Tansu Style Jewelry Chest. Before we go forward, let me explain something that a reader asked about the groove for the bottom. What I showed was a drawer with this groove that was made at the table saw. It worked fine but the groove goes all the way from end to end so the tiny holes show through (arrow on inset picture.)
The reader suggested stopped dados would precluded that, and he is absolutely right. The WoodRat can make them easier than any other method I can think of. Andrea starts by installing a 1/4" up-spiral bit.
	I have made this platform from some scraps of wood. It is designed to hold the sides and ends so that they can be moved directly under the router. Andrea clamps it in the right hand clamp.
Rather than try to see where the router bit is on the wood when it is running, Andrea positions the bit when the router is off and pencils a mark on the aluminum rail to show the start and finish points.
	She can locate the bit near one end, plunge and move to the other end and unplunge — and she has a stopped dado and no little hole in the end.  If she moves the platform from left to right, the cutting of the bit will press the workpiece against the back of the form.  It is an easy and safe cut to make.    Andrea and I haven't done it yet, but the WoodRat is a great machine for doing all sorts of mortises and tenons. Using much the same technique, you can guide the workpiece under the router with high accuracy. We will use this feature when we do the inside case.
The stop dados on both ends will allow the bottom to fit but not show the hole through the ends. The WoodRat allows this precise operation very accurately and safely.
	With the drawer components made, Andrea starts to assemble the pieces. There is no trick to it. She starts with assembling one side and the two end pieces. She uses regular carpenter's glue over the dovetail surfaces. She then inserts the panel and glues the other side into place. The bottom "floats" so no glue is required there.
Two clamps do the job of holding the drawer together while the glue sets.
	She takes a drawer that I glued up last night and uses my new Delta belt sander to sand down the proud tails and make the sides smooth.
Andrea could wait for me to set up the HVLP sprayer but instead sprays some Deft finish on the drawer. It doesn't take much. Just enough so that the drawer can be polished with 0000 steel wool and waxed when dry.