Projects

  Tool-Controlled Dust Collection Do you use your dust collector every time you should? Probably not. With this new system, you will—without any extra effort. System 1 from Creative [...]

Tips for Mastering Featherboards Featherboards are like having an extra set of hands in the shop, going where no fingers ever should. By Jock and Susan Holmen The featherboard gets its name from [...]

Super-Tune Your Tools with a Dial Indicator By George Vondriska Machinists use a simple measuring device called a dial indicator for setting up metalworking equipment. It works great in the [...]

Miter saws are a great convenience, but they spread sawdust like a sprinkler spreads water. The new Downdrafter shroud from Rousseau, $200, combined with a dust collector, acts like a parachute [...]

Lasers have proven to be a wonderful way to add safety and accuracy to miter saws. Now Hitachi has taken ease-of-use to a new level by adding both a laser and a digital readout to its C12LCH [...]

I use a flush-trim bit a lot, particularly for trimming face frames to cabinet sides and parts flush with templates. Unfortunately, after a few sharpenings, it's not a flush-trim bit any [...]

      Do you turn on your dust collector every time you should? “I'm only making one cut,” you say. But how many times in a day do you make “only one [...]

When my shop was a two-car garage with one outlet, I had to carefully choose what I plugged in. That generally meant no radio, because there weren't any outlets left for it. Enter Bosch's [...]

Drop-Down Bit Storage In my crowded shop, there's no such thing as unusable space. My router bits store under a shop cabinet, out of the way until I need them, thanks to a scrap of wood, a [...]

Changing bandsaw blades used to be a pain, because my bandsaw doesn't have a quick-release blade-tensioning mechanism. I finally got tired of ­ hand-cranking, so I replaced the tensioning [...]

While sweeping up offcuts from around my bandsaw, I realized two things: First, I hate sweeping. Second, a dustpan-shaped tray attached to the bandsaw would catch most of the offcuts I was [...]

Align Bandsaw Wheels By Dave Munkittrick & Bruce Kieffer Q. I’ve tried everything to get good resaw results on my bandsaw, but the blade still wanders. What gives? A. If you use a sharp [...]