Techniques

Steam Bent Music Stand “Learning to bend wood with steam takes practice, just like playing an instrument.” By Seth Keller Bending wood with steam always intrigued me, but I never tried it. The [...]

Pegged Tablesaw Tools For a nifty way to keep tablesaw accessories in reach, attach perf-board panels to the tablesaw stand. Drill holes in the legs of an open metal stand and bolt the perf-board [...]

No-Hassle Filter Cleaning My air filter works great and sure makes my shop a cleaner and healthier place to work. But cleaning the pleated filter was always a problem. Blowing or shaking it out [...]

Q & A: Soaking Stones   Q: I just bought a 6,000-grit Japanese waterstone mounted on a wooden base. Can I soak it like my other stones? Also, what’s the purpose of a Nagura stone? [...]

Water-borne Pore Fillers The first step to a glass-smooth finish. By Michael Dresdner Some of our favorite woods have large, open pores on the surface. Mahogany, walnut, teak, koa, ash, oak, and [...]

Accurate Bevels The standard angle scale on my bandsaw is too small to read accurately. I made a large, new scale on the back side of my bandsaw and attached a pointer stick to the back edge of [...]

Whenever I talk about glue to clubs and classes, I hand around a bottle of liquid hide glue and ask them to tell me what its disadvantages are. “It’s weak.” Actually no, it produces a bond [...]

The Unsinkable Molly Brown's Parlor Table This little charmer folds flat, then sets up in seconds. By Tim Johnson This table is an accurate reproduction of one purchased by Molly Brown and [...]

30 Finishing Supplies 30 must-have tools for finishing all types of woodworking projects. By Kevin Southwick   Collecting woodworking tools is undeniably fun. As a professional finisher, I [...]

3 Classic Vises made with Pipe Clamps Increase your bench’s versatility on a budget. By Chad Stanton As a professional woodworker, leaving the comfort of my shop to work on a jobsite is [...]

Knot-Free Planing I use a lot of #2 pine boards, but when I plane them, the knots often nick my knives. I found a way to prevent this by cutting out the knots before I plane. Because most of my [...]

When I was a kid, I used books to escape from my (boring) Arkansas upbringing. Today, I use books to escape from the drudgery of air travel. Every room in our house is full of books, and there is [...]