Archives

Using a tablesaw to cut rabbets on the end of a board is nothing new.  If you’ve only got a couple to make, it’s hardly worth the time it takes to install you dado set. So, using your [...]

A mobile workbench is handy in a small shop, until you want it to stand still! After outfitting my bench with casters, I found that their locks didn’t prevent the bench from wiggling. My [...]

I love my dovetail jig except for one thing: If I forget to hold the router flat, it can tip backward off the front of the jig and ruin the job. To solve the problem, I made my own Lshaped …

Here’s a great space-saving tip. I first made “floor drawers” like these for under-the-bed storage. They worked so well I decided to use them in the shop. Floor drawers work great for storing [...]

Flattening the back of a spokeshave’s blade on sandpaper is a pain. The blade is so small that it’s hard to get a grip on it. A 1-1/2″ thick MDF block sized to fit my hand makes [...]

Tool: Quick-Release Pock-It Hole Clamp Shop Now Manufacturer: Rockler MSRP: $25.99 Pocket hole joints are quick and easy to make. For some applications, such as face frames, they’re perfect. But [...]

I needed a sacrificial fence for cutting rabbets with my tablesaw. All of the designs I’d seen required drilling holes in my saw’s fence or positioning clamps strategically out of the way of the [...]

Chisel Sharpening Jig If you’ve had trouble grinding a straight edge on a chisel or plane iron, try using your disc sander. All you need is a guide that slides in your sander’s miter gauge slot [...]

Toggle clamps are great for all sorts of jigs and fixtures. However, you need a wrench to adjust the length of their posts. To make life easier, replace the clamp’s hex nut with a wing nut. [...]

My beam compass is perfect for drawing huge arcs. It’s super easy to make, and I can adjust it quickly without using screws or clamps. To change the arc’s radius, I just slide a [...]

Flaming Scroll Saw When I work in my garage shop, I keep the garage door open to let the sunlight stream in. After working for several hours one fine afternoon, I smelled something burning—that [...]

Achieving exact thickness is really important when making splines to reinforce box corners. The splines have to fit perfectly in the saw kerfs—a few thousandths of an inch one way or the other [...]