J.T. Towsley Jointer Restoration
Vintage woodworking machinery can be a great bang for your buck. Vintage woodworking tools have always held a certain appeal to me. Earlier this year, I was out in California with David Marks [...]
Moby Dick, the Great White Planer
Moby Dick, the Great White Planer The newspaper advertisement was brief: “PLANER, 24″, $450. Call.” My friend Charles Poth and I had been looking for just such a machine. We found the [...]
Troubleshooting Planes
Practical solutions to common plane problems. When a plane is working right, it can produce a silky-smooth surface that absolutely glistens. When it doesn’t work, you get an ugly surface covered [...]
Repairing a Faulty Drill Press On/Off Switch
As woodworkers, we rely on electricity to alleviate some of the heavy lifting burdens of milling, sawing, and drilling. Many of us use these machines quite often and I believe we would benefit [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 2
Last week I showed how to source and install a missing swivel pad over the ball of a clamp’s screw. That kind of pad only works in a ball and socket situation, so what can we do with clamps that [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 1
I recently was gifted a few old bar clamps from a fellow member who belongs to our local FreeCycle group. FreeCycle.org is an internet-based group that promotes the free exchange of items and [...]
Repairing a Slippery Vise Mechanism
Two years ago I wrote about the ordeal of finding spare parts for the popular (but now discontinued) US-made Jorgensen rapid action vises. Unfortunately, after many years of smooth operation, the [...]
Replacing a Maul Handle
Winter is the perfect time for fireplaces and firewood, and the best firewood is the one you generate yourself. The late Moravian psychoanalyst, Dr. Schtriker Von Axen, used to teach his meek and [...]
Replacing a Band Saw Tire
A few weeks ago as I was ripping a board on our Grizzly band saw, I felt a kick and heard a bang, the saw blade slipped out of the track, and pieces of black stuff began snowing down …
New Life for an Old Table Saw
This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking. The dream of a “barn find” looms large in most people’s imagination, whether it’s 1,000 board feet of [...]
Air-Tensioned Bandsaw
The bandsaw has always been the prima donna machine in my shop. It requires so much time and attention to make it work right; changing blades, adjusting tension and repositioning guides. It was [...]
