Techniques

Q: I am really puzzled as to how the tail vise actually works as I have only used a front vise. A: A tail vise’s main purpose is to hold a board flat on the bench for planing, routing, [...]

Ultimate Tool Stand An easy-to-use space saver with more functions than a Swiss army knife. By Dave Munkittrick For those of us who share shop space with a car or a washer and dryer, elbowroom is [...]

A Little Bit of Buried Treasure   A friend of mine had an old two-seater Adirondack chair that she figured was rotting and ready for the landfill. But she liked it so much, that she asked me [...]

Is there any advantage/disadvantage to installing a dust collector outside the shop? It may sound as resolute as a long-range weather forecast, but yes, maybe and no. It is really a personal [...]

Laminated Pedestal Table Curved legs make this table strong, practical and attractive. By Fred Matlack After knocking my knee on the leg of our kitchen table and spilling the gravy for the [...]

Q: I use my jointer to clean up sawn edges before glue-up. The results are great except when I try to joint figured wood. Any suggestions? A: Jointing highly figured wood often leaves nasty [...]

Wicked Sharp For the ultimate edge, use a leather strop. By Alan Turner I have a special set of chisels that I only use for paring. To do a good job, they have to be wicked sharp— and stay [...]

Woodworkers love their toys. Table saws, jointers and planers are serious big-boy (and big-girl) toys. Planes, chisels and saws are cherished, too, and though we all take our craft and hobby [...]

Clamp Leash My spring clamps always seem to be out of reach or scattered around the shop. To solve my problem, I suspended my dog’s old leash over my workbench. Now my spring clamps are always [...]

Cordless Jointer.  Yup, it's late. But it's still Friday. It's been a whirlwind of a week. While working on a project today, I got to use one of my favorite techniques. Most [...]

During the last 17 years that I have been using a honing guide to sharpen, I’ve been approached (sometimes nearly assaulted) by people who want to teach me to sharpen freehand. My response: “I [...]

Many newcomers to woodworking consider routers scary and confusing tools. No wonder – there is so much to know about wood routing. Not only is there a wide variety of routers and router tables, [...]