Archives

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. [...]

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 [...]

Groovy Dowels Have you ever tried gluing a pin made from dowel rod in a blind hole? If so you've probably encountered the nasty air pocket that forms at the bottom of the hole and makes [...]

Large Sheet Crosscutting Crosscutting large sheets of plywood on the tablesaw can be difficult, and I usually end up binding the blade, burning the wood, or worse. To get around this, I clamp a [...]

Bench Helper I use this simple device when planing the edges of long boards. It's especially useful when the board is too springy to be clamped between a bench dog and a tail vise. I hold the [...]

Because we have just about put to bed the current issue and due to the upcoming holiday weekend, I had a little free time to be out in the shop. Look out workbench, here I come – again. Today I [...]

Getting the Point I frequently use awls in my work and like to keep them needle-sharp. This little jig takes only a few minutes to make and guarantees a fine, tapered point. Two magnets keep the [...]

Veneer for Edging Instead of buying veneer or edge-banding material for plywood, make your own from scrap left over from the project. This is not only inexpensive, but the edge banding will match [...]

Clean Bandsaw Tires – This one is from our old Q & A department. Q. My bandsaw tires have a builup of pitch and sawdust that seems to be embedded right into the  rubber. What's [...]

Router Table Spring Board I saw this device in an old woodworking book. I gave it a try and now I use it all the time. With this spring board you get even pressure along the entire fence and [...]

I’ve had a bit of time in the shop this week, so I went back to work on the storage boxes that sit inside my yet-to-be-built workbench. I know. It’s been almost six months and [...]