A Dovetail Reference Joint

Like many woodworkers, I own a basic half-blind dovetail jig, which I use only occasionally for making utility drawers. During the interim, I tend to forget the setup procedures and spacing [...]

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 [...]

Routing Small Pieces

Whenever creating small pieces that include a routed detail of some sort, it’s best to do the routing on the larger “parent” board, and then separate the small piece from the larger. However, [...]

Use Car Jacks in the Shop to Lift & Level

I have long used my car’s scissor jack for house and shop projects including lifting a settled deck and leveling workbenches. And when I needed to install a new set of cabinets in my shop, I [...]

5 Favorite Shaker Projects

Shaker furniture is known for it’s clean, simple lines and quality construction. There’s been no shortage of Shaker woodworking projects in the pages of Popular Woodworking over the [...]

Use Light To Spot Finish Imperfections

Nobody likes wrapping up the last bit of finishing on a project and suddenly catching a run or imperfection you missed earlier. You can either ignore it, or more likely sand it down and fix the [...]

The No. 1 Plane

It sure is cute – but is it useful? Few tools spark the affection of so many as the Stanley No. 1 size bench plane. Regardless of one’s interest, the small plane has a way of catching everyone’s [...]

Cut Flat Dados on a Round Surface

I needed to cut stopped grooves on a round surface – and while I could have cut them on the stock while it was square, then proceed to turn it on the lathe, I didn’t want to worry about catching [...]

Long-reach Golf Ball Clamps

Sometimes you need to clamp parts that are out of reach of the throat depth of standard clamps. Here’s a design for a long-reach clamp that can be made from 2×4 lumber, 3⁄4” plywood or [...]

Quick, Slick Burnisher

A nice scraper burnisher can be made quickly for little or no cost. All you need is a cheap wooden file handle (available at hardware stores) and an old drill bit. You simply drill into the [...]

Safer Ripping of Short Stock

Ripping very narrow stock on the table saw can be a bit dicey because your push stick runs so close to the blade. If you’re not careful to keep it against the rip fence, it can tip into the [...]