Wide Tenons Made Easy
When making tenons for breadboard ends and other wide workpieces, the router is my tool of choice. Ensuring perfectly aligned rabbet shoulders on both sides of the board was a problem until I [...]
Dowel-cutting Cradle
I find cutting dowels on the band saw to be a hassle. For one thing, the blade can grab the round stock and twist it out of your hand if you’re not using a support cradle guided by the miter …
Unjamming a Hole Saw
Hole saws provide an inexpensive way to bore large holes, but they have a maddening tendency to clutch the drilled disk afterward. I’ve found that the best approach for removing a stuck disk from [...]
Drilling for Continuous Hinges
Self-centering drill bits (also called “Vix bits”) are great for quick, accurate drilling of hinge screw holes. Unfortunately, they don’t work very well for many continuous, or “piano,” hinges. [...]
Better Vision in the Shop
Woodworking is a visual art. The capabilities of our eyes and visual system, as well as the quality of the conditions in which we use them, are essential to good woodworking. Basic knowledge of [...]
CAM Marking Gauge
On April 21, 1868, the United States Patent Office issued Patent Number 76,884 to Wessel Brodhead for an improvement to the field of carpenters’ marking gauges. Brodhead developed a tool that [...]
Choosing a Spray Gun
As I’ve explained many times in Popular Woodworking, you can achieve a near-perfect finish using a rag or brush: You can apply a wipe-on/wipe-off finish such as oil, wiping varnish or gel [...]
André Roubo’s Try Square
One of the first tools I bought was a 9″ steel try square with a brass and rosewood stock. Like a supermodel, it’s nice to look at, but not so fun to deal with day-to-day. Its blade is too [...]
Delta’s Midi-lathe
Tool: 12-1/2″ Variable Speed MIDI-LATHE Manufacturer: Delta MSRP: $659.99 If you need a lathe in a small shop and don’t have the room or just don’t want to wrestle with a full-size machine, [...]
Out of the Woodwork: Beyond the Norm
This article originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Last week I stood in a beautiful living room and relived a scene for at least the 10th time in my career as a [...]
A Tapered-leg Table
Small tables are useful just about anywhere in the home. They can be easy to build, but a good design is important. To make the design more interesting, tapered legs (often part of Shaker, [...]
Turned Tool Handles
Custom-fit your tools to your hand. One of the best uses for a lathe is making tool handles. Most production tool handles leave something to be desired. The good news is that the handle is the [...]
