Archives

Turning Bocce Balls By Alan Lacer Freehand turning of a near perfect wooden sphere without flat spots or bumps is a wonderful challenge for a turner.Whether it’s for croquet, furniture [...]

Router Base Transfer Points After I lost track of the base plate for the router that goes in my router table, I had to make a new one with accurately marked holes for the mounting screws and a [...]

Turning Table Legs By Alan Lacer Turning four table legs that match may sound impossible, but it’s not. With these tried and true tips, and a little practice, you can successfully turn even [...]

Vise Crank Handle I'm getting up in years but I still love woodworking. My hands aren't as limber as they used to be, so it was uncomfortable to twist my vise handle. I remembered the [...]

A Brush for Tight Spots Q. I built a little TV stand for our living room that included a 4″ space for the DVD player. It seemed like a great idea until I went to varnish the piece. [...]

Wood Edging on Laminated Tops 5 steps to align and finish wood edging on a plastic laminated surface By Bruce Kieffer Most woodworkers cringe at the thought of applying wood edging to a [...]

Temporary Zero-Clearance Insert My small tablesaw and accessories follow me to jobsites every day. One morning I needed to rip thin slats from a 2 x 4 and wouldn't you know it, I forgot my [...]

Super Chop Saw Stop This stop slides along a rail that's screwed to the top of my chop saw fence, and I can lock it in any position. The hinged block is locked in the down position with a [...]

Groovy Dowels Have you ever tried gluing a pin made from dowel rod in a blind hole? If so you've probably encountered the nasty air pocket that forms at the bottom of the hole and makes [...]

Large Sheet Crosscutting Crosscutting large sheets of plywood on the tablesaw can be difficult, and I usually end up binding the blade, burning the wood, or worse. To get around this, I clamp a [...]

Bench Helper I use this simple device when planing the edges of long boards. It's especially useful when the board is too springy to be clamped between a bench dog and a tail vise. I hold the [...]

Getting the Point I frequently use awls in my work and like to keep them needle-sharp. This little jig takes only a few minutes to make and guarantees a fine, tapered point. Two magnets keep the [...]