Archives

Prescription Safety Glasses   Q: I hate fumbling with goggles over my prescription glasses, so I’ve given up. Don’t regular glasses protect my eyes well enough in the workshop? A: No. Normal [...]

Rigid Routing Sled A routing sled is a great help when coping the ends of rails and stiles. But I had a problem when I built my first sled. The pressure from the toggle clamp caused the [...]

Router Base Transfer Points After I lost track of the base plate for the router that goes in my router table, I had to make a new one with accurately marked holes for the mounting screws and a [...]

Vise Crank Handle I'm getting up in years but I still love woodworking. My hands aren't as limber as they used to be, so it was uncomfortable to twist my vise handle. I remembered the [...]

Anti-Slip Dust-Collection Table Here’s a pair of sanding helpers that work great together. The rug pad provides a soft anti-slip surface.The Peg-Board, combined with the holes in the rug [...]

Working Alone Solitary Strategies for Three-Handed Tasks By Tim Johnson One of woodworking’s major attractions is being able to say, “I built that myself.” On the surface, this [...]

How Fast Should a Forstner Bit Spin?   Q: I just bought a set of Forstner bits for my drill press.The first time I used one I made more smoke than sawdust! How do I figure out the right [...]

A Brush for Tight Spots Q. I built a little TV stand for our living room that included a 4″ space for the DVD player. It seemed like a great idea until I went to varnish the piece. [...]

Can I Sharpen My Router Bit?   Q: I’ve got a carbide router bit that’s caked with pitch and leaves a rough cut. Can I rescue it or should I buy a new one? A: A bit can be brought [...]

9 Ways to Untangle Wires By Brad Holden Electric spaghetti. That’s what most of us have lurking behind our computer desks and entertainment centers. Every time you want to add or take out a [...]

Temporary Zero-Clearance Insert My small tablesaw and accessories follow me to jobsites every day. One morning I needed to rip thin slats from a 2 x 4 and wouldn't you know it, I forgot my [...]

Super Chop Saw Stop This stop slides along a rail that's screwed to the top of my chop saw fence, and I can lock it in any position. The hinged block is locked in the down position with a [...]