Grind Your Own Knives

With this simple jig, a drill press and a cup grinder, I can sharpen any jointer or planer knife. First I make a hardwood block and cut it to 1/16...

Jig for Router Dadoes

For fast and accurate dadoes, this jig is hard to beat. The trick is to run the router against one guide, then back against the other. This allows you to...

Rock-Solid Bench Support

The face vise on my workbench didn't hold long boards rigidly enough until I added this adjustable "bench slave." And it only cost about $30. First I milled a board...

Jointing With A Planer

            I came across some wonderful oak boards for a small table I wanted to build. The problem was the boards were too wide for...

Clamp Doubles as Tail Vise

    After years of wishing my old workbench had a tail vise, I realized I could make one of my new Jorgensen Cabinet Master bar clamps do the job....

Saber-Saw Cushion

The next time you use your saber saw, forget about hauling out the sawhorses or cantilevering a hard-to-hold workpiece off your bench. Extruded polystyrene insulation board, the rigid pink sheets...

Pipe-Clamp Vise

  My bench has only one vise, so it needs to be versatile. The jaws on my vise can be positioned to hold objects flat on the bench or cantilevered...

Biscuit Gauge

  I use my biscuit joiner all the time to quickly make strong joints. With narrow boards like face frames, I used to spend a lot of time figuring out...

Knee-Saving Compressor Drain

Crouching to operate my compressor's drain valve was no big deal until my football-ravaged knees started acting up. To keep from grimacing in the sawdust, I devised a more civilized...

30-Minute Marking Gauge

Make this handy little gem for less than $5. You’ll need one piece of hardwood for the beam and another for the fence. You’ll also need two 1/4-20 threaded inserts...

Hold Small Stock Securely

In Ireland, where I was taught, the first jig a woodworking apprentice makes is a bench hook—a simple, yet amazingly effective device used to hold small stock for sawing and...

Tips for Mastering Featherboards

Tips for Mastering Featherboards Featherboards are like having an extra set of hands in the shop, going where no fingers ever should. By Jock and Susan Holmen The featherboard gets...