I wanted to use my benchtop belt sander as a safe and accurate way to grind my hand tools. By adding a little extension table that is co-planar with the sanding surface, I can use my honing guides to keep everything square and at the right angle. Everyone’s sander is a little different, but a…

Go to your local building supply store, and find a cheap plunger (mine was $3). Then take the handle off and use it for a jam chuck on your lathe – mine gets the most use when reversing hollow forms and removing the  tenons. Works great and is super cheap! Noah Schuerman, Pullman, Washington This…

I am making a bed headboard which requires multiple mortise and tenon joints on different wood thicknesses. I am routing my mortises and seeing the stop line that was laid out for the mortise was challenging at times. I wanted a stop block that would be easy to use and would be versatile enough to…

Following up on a promise from a previous trick, in this video, we take a look at how to replace the sandpaper on a disc sander. If “big deal” is running through your head, then you’ve never had to do this task. It’s harder than you think, and we’ll give you a couple of tips…

Many new chisels, especially most premium-quality chisels, have sharp lands (the beveled side edges). Some people wear cotton gloves to protect their hands when using these, but I don’t like the loss of feel and sensitivity with gloves. So I came up with a simple solution to avoid getting cut by these edges. I cut…

When applying laminate on a narrow edge, it’s a little tricky to not tip the router and undercut the edge while trimming laminate. The surface on which the router must balance is often not wide enough to provide adequate support. I made this fixture from two pieces of plywood dadoed and screwed together for strength….

I learned this in engineering school and soon found out it worked for my router. It is called the “right-hand thumb rule.” When trying to remember which way your router bit is spinning so you can feed the wood in the correct direction, you can use the right-hand thumb rule. Pretend your right hand is…

You can use a router to joint two boards at once. This is a really handy trick if you don’t have a long-bed jointer or you don’t have a jointer at all, and you’re working with really long stock. The trick is to rout both boards at the same time, so the edges mirror each other….

Here’s a tip on how to cut curves on the bandsaw. When cutting a circle or an odd shape from a square piece of lumber on a bandsaw, you’ve probably dealt with the annoying corners that try to pull the material out of your hands as they catch on the bandsaw’s table. Then there’s the…

When you don’t need an absolutely accurate line drawn on a piece (say for a shooting/nailing line or layout line) all you need is a wooden folding ruler, a pencil and your two hands. Lay the rule on your piece the proper distance in, then hold the rule in your left hand with your index…

Tools for measuring. Tools for Accuracy. ACCURACY IS IMPORTANT PART OF WOODWORKING I’ve been working as a furniture maker for quite a while, now. Along the way, you refine your processes, develop techniques and create a lot of habits over time. Certainly, an important part of working professionally is to work efficiently —you learn very…

I needed to cut long boards on the table saw, but had only a small table for the outfeed and none for the infeed. So I built this handy infeed table using scrap plywood and a sawhorse, both of which I already had on hand. I drilled a hole in the center of the sawhorse…