Essential Woodworking PPE

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 [...]

Dress for Dust

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 [...]

Quick Rip Fence Adjustment

Like any table saw rip fence, mine needs occasional realignment to the blade. Because my miter gauge slots are aligned parallel to the blade, I just set my fence parallel to the right-hand slot. [...]

Cheap On-board Task Lighting

I’ve been noticing a lot of new tools these days that come equipped with on-board task lighting. Then while recently perusing my local home-improvement center, I noticed these small [...]

You Own a Table Saw?!

This hand surgeon likes meeting fellow woodworkers – but not at work. I long ago lost track of how many people, upon learning of my interest in woodworking, have puzzled aloud over my table saw. [...]

Simple Switch Safety

I like to buy used electric motors for powering various tools around the shop. I also use them to mount grinding wheels, wire brushes and buffing wheels. I typically outfit the motors with toggle [...]

Common Woodworking Mistakes

There are many things we do wrong but we don’t know they’re wrong. In woodworking there are two kinds of mistakes: There’s the garden-variety gaffe where we simply cut a board too short or botch [...]

Mobile, Sturdy Light Stand

Good light is a must in every workshop, but sometimes I need a little extra light in just the right place. To make my light/magnifier more portable, I drilled a hole in a handscrew to fit the [...]

Sharpeners’ Anonymous

A 12-step program for regrowing forearm hair. I head through the main doors, down the stairs to the basement, arriving at the third door on the right. Like everyone else, I grab a cup of coffee [...]

Efficient Shop Wiring

A single cable provides 120-volt and 240V service. Every article I’ve seen describing the wiring of a shop for both 120 volts and 240V uses separate cables for each voltage, which is a [...]

Make Your Own Blast Gates

They’re cheap! All you need is some PVC and plastic laminate. A central dust collection system is a big improvement to any shop, but the cost can really add up. With commercial gates going from [...]

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