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 [...]

3 Classic Vises made with Pipe Clamps Increase your bench’s versatility on a budget. By Chad Stanton As a professional woodworker, leaving the comfort of my shop to work on a jobsite is [...]

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 [...]

The Ultimate Shop-Built Crosscut Sled It's safe, it slides like a dream and replaceable throat plate makes it last forever! By Travis Larson A good tablesaw sled makes perfect crosscuts easy, [...]

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 [...]

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 …

  Behind the Stairs Storage In my basement shop every square inch counts! Out of necessity I found a wealth of unused space tucked right under my nose, or should I say feet. That awkward [...]

Roll-Around Shop Cabinet This wooden cavern holds tons of tools, plus it doubles as a bench outrigger. By Ian Kirby For tough and intelligent tool storage, it’s hard to beat a professional [...]