Clamping cauls are indispensable for gluing up casework. A caul is simply a stiff piece of wood used to apply pressure where a clamp can’t reach. Sooner or later, you’re…

Every little bit helps when trying to keep your shop and tools clean. That’s why we’ve compiled some of our favorite tips all in one place. Mobile Suction My dust…

Sanding is nobody’s favorite task, but if you use these tricks, you might find it just a little more bearable. Flexible Sanding Tool A complex moulding can be difficult to…

Tool: Pen Plus Jaws Manufacturer: Nova Price: $40 Drilling pen blanks often involves a drill press and a vise. Doing this operation on your lathe offers a finer degree of control and…

Face jointing boards requires some safety precautions to keep your fingers out of the danger zone. I made this simple push plate with a cleat on the back end. Two handles…

Tool: CMS Router Table Manufacturer: Festool Price: $1720 On one end of the spectrum, there’s the router screwed to the underside of a piece of plywood, supported on sawhorses, with a…

PVC spring clamps aren’t new. I like using them, but thought they could use some improvement. Here’s what I came up with. First, I added two dowels installed 90° from…

Tool: Fusion F2 Manufacturer: Laguna Price: $1800 A cabinet saw is the dream of many woodworkers, but many simply can’t afford one, or don’t have a 220 volt circuit to accommodate one….

Perhaps woodturners should sell naming rights. The field has never standardized the names of woodturning tools (or measurements of their widths or how to describe their angles), so they often…

Changing saw blades or router bits without unplugging your machine is an often overlooked “no-no”. The risk of bumping the switch and inadvertently turning the machine on is probably low,…

Tool: Veritas Shooting Plane Manufacturer: Veritas Price: $356 Shooting a board’s edge with a hand plane is a time-tested way to create perfect fitting joints. Veritas’ new Shooting Plane, made specifically…

Squeeze-out happens! You can’t stop it, so you just have to try to contain it. One day while shopping the local home center, I found a product called DRIcore Subfloor. …

Tool: Lock Miter Master Manufacturer: Infinity Tools Price: $29.90 The lock miter is a strong, beautifully simple joint. Using just one router bit, both halves of the joint are cut using the…

Bandsawing long boards without a helper is tricky business. I don’t like roller stands. Most aren’t tall enough for a bandsaw. Also, if your stock butts into the roller instead…

Tool: The Dremel Moto-Saw Manufacturer: Dremel Price: $107 A scroll saw is the go-to tool for making fine, detailed cuts. But a scroll saw, for many shops, doesn’t even break into…

Using an awl to precisely locate a hole for drilling can be problematic. Sometimes the awl will drift, going slightly off mark as it’s deflected by the wood’s growth rings….

Tool: GRR-Rip Block Manufacturer: MICROJIG Price: $83 (pack of 2) Push blocks are essential in every shop. I’ve used my fair share of them, and the new GRR-Rip Block from MicroJig just…

  Add these great performers to advance your skills. Increase your woodworking capabilities and maximize your router’s potential by adding these great performers to your collection of basic straight and…

Emptying my dust collector has never been something I looked forward to. For years I wrestled with the unit to empty the contents. First, I’d remove the bag and empty…

My grama always used lemon oil to clean and polish her wood furniture. Either she just enjoyed having everything clean and dust free or she believed everything she read on…

The modern router didn’t arrive on the scene fully evolved; it descended from a hand-powered tool called the router plane. A quick glance at the router plane’s handles – and…

My Boring Story I needed to rout a deep stopped groove in a long 2×12. So, I installed an up-cut spiral bit in my plunge router, jointed a board to…

Simple Storage by Bill Wells Storage space in a small shop is hard to come by. My tool collection keeps growing, but my shop stays the same size! I needed…

Turning Tool Tamer by Richard Tendick I was turning a vase recently, and as I got deeper into the turning, the vase’s rotation pulled the tool’s tip down, making it…

There are lots of excuses for not using dovetails; cutting them by hand takes time, patience, and lots of practice. A dovetail jig is relatively fool proof, but if you…

Tool: Mushroom Mag Switch Manufacturer: General International A magnetic switch is a safety device that’s common on many new stationary tools. They’re quickly becoming a requirement for schools and industry. For…

A zero-clearance throat plate is a must-have for every tablesaw. It prevents small offcuts and thin strips from dropping down alongside the blade which is really annoying. Some manufacturers sell…

Paul McCartney once said that he always walked around with his antenna up.  Random sounds and images were stored in his cerebral temp folder only to reappear years later in…

So tell me—how many jigs do you have scattered around your shop? Is it true that a guy can’t have too many, just like you can’t have too many clamps?…

Many woodworking tools, like the saw, chisel and plane, go way, way back. We’ve no idea who invented them or who refined them. This jig is one of those anonymous…

Sliding dovetail joints are peculiar—sometimes, the two parts are meant to travel past one another; other times, they’re glued together. Whatever their purpose, making these joints is craftsmanship at its…

Curved lines in any project are both a blessing and a curse. They’re a blessing for the eye of the beholder, but a curse for the poor guy who has…

On one end of the spectrum, there’s the router screwed to the underside of a piece of plywood, supported on sawhorses, with a board clamped across for a fence. On…

Remember the slide rule? I sure do. Back in high school chemistry, years ago, we all had to learn how to use a slide rule to quickly multiply and divide…

Cordless Drill Mortise Mill Editor’s note: This product no longer appears to be available. This mortising jig is small, but don’t be fooled by its toy-like appearance; the JessEm Pocket…

The JDS Multi-Router recently passed its 25th anniversary. In all those years, there’s been only one relatively minor change to this venerable joint-making machine—a remarkable feat when you consider how…

Editor’s note: this product no longer appears to be available. Cyanoacrylite (CA) glues have been around for years, but the folks at Bioformix have come out with a new twist,…

Router Table with Nice Features, Nice Price Looking for a full-featured router table? Don’t want to break the bank? If so, the Premium Die Cast Aluminum Router Table from Craftsman…

Learn how to sharpen and use a detail/spindle gouge (“Turning Wood: The Detail/Spindle Gouge,” page 28) Watch the elliptical jig in action (“The Amazing Elliptical Jig,” page 55) Download scales…