Archives

Retractable Chuck Key After losing three chuck keys I attached the fourth to a plain, old retractable key chain. Now I don't have to turn my shop inside out looking for my chuck key because [...]

Versatile Center Gauge I wanted to add accent dowel “dots” down the center of some slightly curved, tapered table legs. Sounds simple, but I nearly pulled my hair out trying to [...]

No-Hassle Filter Cleaning My air filter works great and sure makes my shop a cleaner and healthier place to work. But cleaning the pleated filter was always a problem. Blowing or shaking it out [...]

Q & A: Soaking Stones   Q: I just bought a 6,000-grit Japanese waterstone mounted on a wooden base. Can I soak it like my other stones? Also, what’s the purpose of a Nagura stone? [...]

Accurate Bevels The standard angle scale on my bandsaw is too small to read accurately. I made a large, new scale on the back side of my bandsaw and attached a pointer stick to the back edge of [...]

Knot-Free Planing I use a lot of #2 pine boards, but when I plane them, the knots often nick my knives. I found a way to prevent this by cutting out the knots before I plane. Because most of my [...]

Stable Roller Stand I bought a roller stand to support my lumber when sawing. It worked okay, but sometimes the rear leg would fold up and the stand would collapse. This was very annoying. I [...]

Bleaching Wood Subtract color to add life. By Michael Dresdner There are four types of bleach that woodworkers commonly use: chlorine, two-part wood bleach, oxalic acid and peroxide. Two-part [...]

Flip-Top Sawhorses I got tired of rummaging around for a blanket or anything soft to lay my finished projects on, so I rigged up these simple carpet caps that fit on top of my sawhorses. They [...]

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Plane Stand Every so often I need to plane down a piece of wood that is too small for my jointer. To handle these small jobs, I devised a stand for my No. 5 Stanley jack plane. The plane rests …

Spray-On Crackle Finish   Q: Is it possible to get a crackle finish in a pigmented, water-based lacquer that is applied with an HVLP spray gun? If so, please tell me how. A: Yes, it can be [...]