Archives

Tool: Inset Vise Manufacturer: Veritas Price: $98 A good tail vise sometimes ends up being an after-thought. When you built your bench, maybe you could only afford to shell out for the...

I always look forward to reading “My Shop” in American Woodworker. I envy those guys who have woodshops the size of a five-car garage that look more like castles than...

I had to crosscut narrow strips to make a cutting board. The boards were too wide for my miter saw, so I decided to use my tablesaw’s crosscut sled. I...

An accurate inside measurement is sometimes difficult to obtain. For example, I needed to take a measurement behind a cabinet’s face frame to fit a new shelf. Typically, most people...

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...

Making through-slots without a router may sound tricky, but it couldn’t be easier. In the days before I could afford a router, I made through-slots by gluing up scraps instead....

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...

Rare earth magnets set in a steel cup are perfect for all sorts of uses around the shop, but have you ever had to remove one? Once they’re in the...

Tool: Rip & Crosscut Tenon Saws Manufacturer: Veritas Price: $139 Cutting tenons on large workpieces often requires bringing the tool to the work, instead of the other way around. It’s not...

Monitoring the level of dust in your bin is a pain. You have to remove the lid and look, which isn’t easy. If you forget or put it off, dust...

For more than 30 years my workshop consisted of a workbench and my Shopsmith tucked into a corner of the garage. I either had to set up and tear down...