Below you’ll find smart woodworking techniques including quick tips, advice for beginners and more advanced methods to improve your skills and allow you to get the most out of your workshop and tools. Whether you’re looking for traditional woodworking techniques using hand tools or power tools, finishing or sharpening advice, or just want to hone your woodworking basics, the advice below is from seasoned and trusted woodworkers and furniture makers working at the top of their field.
This handy stop grips tightly and is easy to adjust, so you can lock in crosscuts. A spacer the same thickness as the saw's auxiliary fence is the key. Sandwiched between the two clamp [...]
I love having a cutting list close at hand. But hanging on to it when both hands are busy was a problem – until I bought 24 clothespins for $2 at the hardware store. I epoxied the wooden [...]
Trying to rip sheet stock single-handedly while standing 8 ft. behind the saw is no picnic. A pair of horses the same height as your saw table carry the load and leave a path so you can easily [...]
A simple addition to my tablesaw fence allows me to cut dozens of identical odd-angled shapes in a hurry. It works just like a flush-cutting router bit. The auxiliary fence's ledge is exactly [...]
It's hard to improve on the performance of a T-square fence, but I think I've done it. I got frustrated with clamping on an additional subfence every time I wanted to make a rabbet with a [...]
I really don't need five cordless drills, seven routers or 24 antique hand planes, but I can't help it. I'm a tool nut. Are you? Have you ever bought an old woodworking machine [...]
After years of fumbling with clamps, I decided there must be a better way to attach featherboards to my tablesaw's rip fence. Two T-tracks screwed to the fence allow me to mount a piece of [...]
Tips for Building Cabinets with Pocket-Hole Joinery New tools and improved techniques make pocket-screw assembly faster than ever. By Brad Holden Many production shops use pocket-hole joinery to [...]
Waterstones Hone an incredibly sharp edge with a $35 combo stone. By Tom Caspar For this woodworker, it doesn’t get any better than using a sharp hand tool. Not just kind of sharp, the way [...]
Turned Lidded Box A Precision Fit Lid that Snaps Shut By Alan Lacer Of all the different forms of woodturning, I find the most delight in creating lidded boxes. The satisfying snap of a well fit [...]
My shop space is so limited-only 12 feet square-that I designed this system to house four machines: belt-disc sander, miter saw station, drill press and planer. Each machine has an accessory [...]
With this simple jig, a drill press and a cup grinder, I can sharpen any jointer or planer knife. First I make a hardwood block and cut it to 1/16 in. less than the length of the knives. Then I [...]