I cut custom base plates for my routers, which not only allows me to adjust the size for better stability, but to better see the work. They’re 1⁄4“-thick Plexiglas that I cut to size and shape on the band saw, then smooth with a belt sander. I use a hole saw to remove the center,…

Floor Sweep Dust Port My router table is probably the most-used tool in my shop. I have dust collector ports on the fence, but when I rout with a bearing-guided bit, it still makes a huge mess. One day I was at my local woodworking supply store shopping for more dust collector ports, but I…

Sponsored by Oneida Air Systems 2020 has many of us spending more time than ever in the workshop. Whether it’s sketching out your newest build or taking the next steps towards finishing a piece, all that extra time in your shop may have you considering making changes to your space. No matter the size of…

Tool: MJ Splitter SteelPRO [Buy Now]  Manufacturer: Microjig MSRP: $39.95 Every tablesaw used to come with a splitter—a tall, thin piece of steel positioned behind the blade. By holding the kerf open, a splitter helps prevent kickback and keeps the blade from burning the wood. If your splitter is missing, here’s a solution: Add a short one…

Carrying plywood by yourself is a pain. This caddy allows you to roll it around instead. Just clamp this caddy to the board’s edge, tip the sheet down onto the wheels and off you go.

Tool: The Dust Deputy – Designed for Festool [Buy Now]  & Festool 574930 CT [Buy Now] MSRP: $299.95 (Dust Deputy) $740 (Festool CT 26) Pair an Oneida mini-cyclone with a Festool vac and what do you get? A dream machine for portable power tools–one that protects your health and keeps your shop clean. The Oneida Dust…

Kitchen Kalamity The cherry salad tongs I’d made needed repairs. They were steam-bent, so they would “spring” when you squeezed them together. But the top portion where the two arms attached was messed up. Cutting off this section significantly shortened the tongs, so there wasn’t much “spring” left. No problem; I could simply re-steam the…

Clamp-Ka-Bob This morning I glued up a 4′ x 6′ tabletop made of maple 2x2s on my assembly table. I positioned 6′ pipe clamps alternately on the top and bottom faces of the glue-up (spaced 8″ apart) and tightened them. Then I removed all the squeezed-out glue. To free up the assembly table, I decided…

While visiting the local Habitat for Humanity store I noticed a woodturning lathe. The store manager told me it had come from an estate and was almost new, so I bought it and took it home in the back of my wife’s minivan. I backed up to my garage shop and opened the minivan’s hatch….

Self Portrait Seeing that it was a very fine day, I began to carve a gnome. This little guy would be my masterpiece. Hours, then days passed as I worked on my gnome. From his ridiculously long beard and massive head to his tiny legs, feet and hands, he was, I felt, a perfectly executed…

Inside Job While building kitchen cabinets, I purposefully chose straight-grained lumber for the doors’ stiles and rails and bought expensive, highly-figured boards to make the panels. In classic style, the doors would be inset, so they’d be flush with the cabinets’ face frames. I measured each opening carefully, using a tape measure, which, of course,…

Dust Bomb My neighbor has had a woodworking shop in his garage since I was a kid. Recently, when he discovered that mice and other furry critters were living in its cinder block foundation, he decided to drop firecrackers down the holes in the blocks to encourage them to leave. Unfortunately, the results were more…