Shop Blog

With turkey day behind us, we’re heading full-force into Christmas. Many evergreens have been cut – most of them many months ago – to become holiday trees that we decorate....

We learn how to read a ruler in grade school, and for lack of more advanced instruction many of us go on reading a ruler for the rest of our...

How tight does my blade have to be?   Q: I have a heck of a time loosening the arbor nut when I switch blades on my tablesaw. How hard...

If, like me, you think every year at about this time, “I really ought to get started on making some Christmas gifts…” Tom Iovino at Tom’s Workbench can help. He’s...

I cannot give you the gift of better eyesight in the shop because, oh, wait, I actually can. Speaking as someone who has had pitiful eyesight since first grade, I...

Yes, I’m poking fun at Chris Schwarz and his “Anarchist’s Gift Guide,” but also at ourselves (in a tiny nutshell: a hegemonic government is one in which imperial dominance [...]

Double-Duty Roller Tables I like getting double duty out of my tools whenever possible. So, when I decided to build outfeed tables for my miter saw and tablesaw, I worked...

OK, I’m going to sound like I have a “man crush” on Joel Moskowitz with this blog entry. But when I think about the simplest inventions in my lifetime that...

My first experience using shellac in the mid-1990s was a disaster. The stuff wouldn’t dry. And when it did finally, kinda dry it was a gummy mess. So I stuck...

We woodworkers work hard to put stuff together. But we suck eggs when it comes to taking things apart. Every woodworker – no matter how skilled – needs an “iron...

Tablesaw Sled Cutoff Block My sliding cutoff sled gets lots of use for repetitive cuts. In the past, I clamped a board to use as a stop, but moving it...

If you buy your screwdriver tips at the home center, then you have probably figured out they are made from recycled chewing gum. They are, for the most part, worthless....