Tool: Benchtop DC Personal Dust Collector Shop Now  Manufacturer: Oneida MSRP: $599 Dust really is the bane of the power tool woodworker. It’s also hazardous, especially if you spend much of your time woodworking. Dust collection on stationary tools and portable tools (hooked to a dust extractor) is getting better and better, but there are still times…

When I need to cut a bunch of small, equally sized pieces, I install this simple jig. It holds short pieces securely during and after cutting, so they don’t get caught by the blade and thrown around the shop. My jig is just a hold-down clamp attached to a squarely-cut piece of plywood. This clamp…

Tool: Thin Rip Tablesaw Jig Shop Now  Manufacturer: Rockler MSRP: $34.99 This tablesaw jig allows you to rip consistent thin strips safely and accurately. The jig clamps in the miter slot to the left of the blade. After each cut, you move the rip fence until the board touches the jig—then rip again for another perfect strip….

Tool: XTRA 2.0 Buy Now LINK Buy Now  Manufacturer: ISOtunes MSRP: $79.99 each Bluetooth Hearing Protection The ISOtunes family of hearing-protection headphones has grown by two recently, with the addition of the XTRA 2.0 and LINK. Like other ISOtunes headphones, these are compliant with OSHA and NIOSH regulations and feature a noise reduction rating of 27 and 24…

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…

SUPER GLUED After making a small repair with super glue, I put the tube in my pocket and forgot about it. Later, when I saw the tube’s cap sitting on my workbench, I instinctively reached into my pocket— and discovered that my pants were securely glued to my thigh. I headed to the bathroom, and…

Backside Out After dabbling with woodworking for a couple of years, I finally got up the courage to build some kitchen cabinets, starting with an 8′ long upper unit. I composed a detailed drawing, cut all the pieces, and glued the cabinet together. Everything went smoothly, and I was really enjoying myself. Before stopping for…

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…