Safety is #1 in the workshop. Before you’re ready to lift a single hammer or cut a single board, you’re going to want to understand the impact of safety in the shop. Accidents can happen to anyone, even the most careful of us out there, so taking the appropriate precautions can mean the difference between…

It looks like the SawStop battle is over, at least for now. It was only a year ago when it seemed a certainty that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was about to implement standards and guidelines requiring all new tables saws to include flesh-detecting technology. The topic has been debated since the invention of…

Three weeks ago, I decided to check the small shop vac I had hooked up to my Delta bandsaw. To my surprise, it was packed full of sawdust—years’ worth of fine shavings quietly captured since I first set up the system (see Part 1 and Part 2 of that story). That moment was a wake-up…

Injuries and fatalities caused by tipping furniture happen a lot more than you probably know. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), about 17,800 injuries are caused annually by falling furniture, nearly half involving children under 18. Further, the CPSC notes that there were 217 tipping-related deaths from 2013-2023. More than 70 percent of those were…

Do the clothes really make the man? Try taking a tip from turners and dress up for dust. Wear a jumpsuit and a face shield when you can’t collect sawdust at the source. This is the outfit turners wear when they’re making lots of chips. A jumpsuit is easy to brush off when you’re done…

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at bad stock photography, nail guns, and building a chair from bulls%$t. Tool News Quick Bites Metabo HPT Release 5 New Nail Guns: It’s been a quiet week in the tool…

One day while disposing trash at the landfill, I discovered a pristine miter saw. It looked perfect—well, almost. The blade was covered with nasty burn marks. I love fixing old tools, so I took the saw home, expecting to recondition it and replace the blade. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the blade had been…

Three men and a broom are no match for a marsupial and his pile of lumber. There are several fundamental requirements to be a woodworker. One needs the proper tools, followed by a degree of skill. Most importantly, though, a woodworker needs wood. Consequently, one of the great pleasures I derive from woodworking is that…

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at a tartan table, “funny” comics, and impossible projects. Tool News Quick Bites Milwaukee Hosts Annual Pipeline Event: Pipeline 2025 was held this week, and Milwaukee announced a whole bunch of…

Which is more mythical – a unicorn or a DeWalt band saw? I’ve been asked over the years why some tool manufacturers don’t make certain tools. Mostly, tool companies restrict their offerings to one of two categories: handheld/portable or stationary. There is some overlap, such as jobsite table saws and “portable” planers that are too…

Bye-Bye Birds-Eye An Army buddy from northern Michigan stopped when he came upon a truck that had overturned and scattered its load of lumber. The trucker, who was unhurt, told my friend to take all the boards he wanted, because the load would be considered a total loss. While loading his pickup, my friend realized…

Breezy Bandsawing Reasoning that I’d only be cutting small stuff in my basement shop, I parked my bandsaw diagonally in a corner. Then I decided to make one of those arched-top garden arbors. My old jig saw had burned out, so I took the two 5’ long cross beams down to the bandsaw. Everyone knows…