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Andrew Lunn
Discover what really matters when choosing a handsaw. You don’t have to be a saw maker to think about saws like one. Some of the most important decisions made when making a saw get surprisingly little attention from those who buy them. Take hang angle, for example – that’s the angle formed between a saw’s…
Alan Lacer
An essential part of your turning tool arsenal. There’s a theory in woodturning—popularized by some British turners—that wood “prefers” to be cut rather than scraped. While I agree with this notion, I’ve also found that scraping tools play an essential role in woodturning. Scraping tools are used primarily for bowl turning, vessels and end-grain hollowing….
David Thiel
Turn a contractor’s tool into a precision woodworking machine. I don’t know of too many woodworking shops, whether home or professional, that don’t have a miter saw as part of their equipment. A miter saw is a fine alternative to a radial-arm saw or circular saw for rough-cutting lumber. It’s also an accurate alternative to…
Pop Wood Editors
Tool:Electric Sawmill G0960 Shop Now Manufacturer: Grizzly MSRP: $3159 As a sawmill owner, I cut lumber for a variety of outlets. Most, I cut for myself. I then dry it and sell it to woodworkers like yourselves. (Heck, I even horde some of it for my projects, but don’t tell my wife that). Other times,…
Dave Munkittrick
Maximize your drum sander’s potential. 1. Skip the Scrape Eliminate laborious hand scraping of dried glue: contrary to popular belief, you can take glue-ups directly to your drum sander. The secrets are to use a coarse abrasive (24-grit to 60- grit, depending on the amount of glue and how uneven the glueup is) and feed…
Collin Knoff
Tool: 18V Brushless Cordless 6-1/2 in. Track Saw R48630B Shop Now Manufacturer: Ridgid MSRP: $399 (includes saw and two 27.5″ tracks) Ridgid is the latest tool manufacturer to throw their hat into the ever-growing track saw field. On paper features like the brushless motor, full scope of adjustability including bevel range of -1 to…
Tool: CTS Compact Table Saw Shop Now Manufacturer: SawStop MSRP: $899 Most woodworkers are familiar now with the SawStop line of table saws and their patented safety system that stops the blade and retracts it in less than 5 milliseconds when it comes in contact with human skin. SawStop has recently expanded their lineup…
Tool: DELTA 2 Portable Power Station Shop Now Manufacturer: EcoFlow MSRP: $999 A while back Yoav wrote about the advantages of using a portable power station to run small tools outdoors. As someone who is constantly frustrated by extension cords (just how do they get so tangled?) I immediately understood the appeal. I recently…
Adam Cherubini
When you know what you’re doing, chisels can be wonderfully helpful tools. If all you want to do with your chisels is adjust machine-cut joints or slice glue drips, any technique or tool will work. This sort of work is occasional in nature, and not particularly strenuous. But chisels offer woodworkers the opportunity to do…
Discover a nearly extinct tool that can help you work faster and more accurately. As preposterous as the notion seems, the historical record suggests cabinetmakers working in dim shops with hand tools were able to produce fine furniture with great speed. Despite the superiority of our modern tools and shops, few can match their productivity….
Wilbur Pan
Most bench planes come equipped to eliminate tear-out. Handplanes are great tools for creating a smooth, finish-ready surface on a board without the dust and noise from a sander. If the board is straight grained and the blade is sharp, it is easy to use a plane. But if the board has some figure, such…
An experiment uncovers cutting edges of the past. “How did they sharpen their tools back then?” I’ve asked this question myself and I have been asked the question, and I’ve never felt comfortable with any answer. We know that 18th-century woodworkers had grindstones and natural whetstones and that’s as far as any answer I’ve ever…
Lonnie Bird
For this work, hand tools are better than power tools. Fitting butt hinges is exacting work. For precision, you might think that power tools are the way to go, but I always turn to a small set of hand tools to do the job. Using a marking knife, pin gauge and chisel, you can precisely…
Tool: 18V Brushless Jig Saw R86344 Shop Now Manufacturer: Ridgid MSRP: $179 (bare tool) A thought occurred to me the other day — is the jigsaw the most versatile power tool? It can crosscut and rip. Make straight cuts or curved. It can even cut bevels and compound miters if used correctly. This mental…
Logan Wittmer
Tool:ProBlade Tape Measure TB-H2-T-12225 Shop Now Manufacturer: ToughBuilt MSRP: $20.99-$25.99 If you think of a “sexy tool,” a tape measure probably is one of the last things that you’d consider. But at the very least, most of us probably have our favorite one. That is when we can remember where we sat it, at least….
Tool: eCAPR Respirator Shop Now Manufacturer: MAXAIR MSRP: $769+ If you’ve been a subscriber to Popular Woodworking for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I like to turn. A few issues back, I covered some of my top turning accessories—one of those was the Sundstrom SR500/700 respirator. I had many emails from people saying…
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