Sawdust Session #2:  August 25, 2007 Topics: Precision measuring, routing dadoes and grooves, making finger joints, resawing and bookmatching thin panels. To view each topic, click on the photos.

Guest: Jim McCann, one of America's most accomplished craftsmen. Hundreds of examples of his work -- furniture, boxes, toys, jigs and fixtures -- have been shown in woodworking books and magazines, including the Fine Woodworking Design series. His forte´ is precision. Not one in a million woodworkers understand wood and how work it accurately as well as Jim. He will show us a small, absolutely spectacular jewelry chest he is making and discuss four methods he used to achieve the precision needed.

Jim is the handsome one on the left.

1. Making small parts precisely -- Jim shows off some of his woodworking and tells how to achieve outstanding accuracy when making small parts. 2. Routing Precise dadoes and grooves -- Jim shows how to make precision measurements when creating small, simple joints on a router table. 3. Itty-bitty finger joints -- Each of the drawers in Jim's jewelry chest are joined at the corners with finger joints. Jim demonstrates how to make them with a jig he can adjust to a precise 1/128 inch. 4. Resawing and planing figured woods  -- The paneled doors in Jim's chest are walnut burl,  "book-matched" for an elegant effect. Jim shows how to read this unusual grain, resaw panels, and plane them.

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