Techniques

Breaking Rules Don’t throw away that broken, wooden rule. Strip the hardware from a 6-in. section. Then cut a slot for it in the front edge of your workbench with a router. Place the zero mark [...]

Portable Shaving Horse Bring your shop to the woods. In the modern workshop, the tablesaw is the central tool. A few centuries ago, for coopers (barrel makers), bodgers (chairmakers), and [...]

Q & A: A Brush for Tight Spots   Q: I built a little TV stand for our living room that included a 4-in. space for the DVD player. It seemed like a great idea until I went to varnish …

Smooth-Cutting Hole Saw I cut a lot of discs and large-diameter holes in my shop. I was puzzled for the longest time because I was getting vibration and smoke. It even happened with new hole [...]

Q & A: Lock Miter Joint Q:   How do you set up a lock miter bit?     A:   There are two critical adjustments (Fig. A). First, you set the bit’s height; second, you [...]

Laser Cutting Guide I use a laser pen to improve accuracy when making miter cuts on a compound miter saw. It’s especially helpful when cutting ornate or rabbeted moldings. First I mark the edge [...]

Router Scarfing Jig Boatbuilders often need to join boards end to end to make longer planks. Instead of a butt joint they make a long taper on each board and overlap the ends. This is called a [...]

Taping Diagonals Measuring diagonals with a tape was a pain for me because the hook would always fall off the corner before I could get a reading. Finally I adapted a tape by riveting a small, [...]

As you gain experience with SketchUp there will come a day when the light bulb will go on and you will realize that you need a strategy for naming components, organizing and naming scenes and [...]

Q & A: Getting Stain Out of Corners Q: I like using gel stain on difficult to stain woods like birch because it doesn’t leave a blotchy look. But man, the stuff is a pain to get out of [...]

Dovetail Marking Jig This little jig greatly speeds the laying out and marking of dovetail pins. Make the jig so the thin piece is exactly the same size as the pin you plan to use. Then, mark a [...]

Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably seen a Roorkhee chair (or its children) at some point in your life. The Roorkhee chair was supposedly invented at the end of the 19th century for the [...]