Tricks of the Trade

My pneumatic nailer makes quick work of assembling cabinets, but if a nail blows out the side, it can be a real mess. Those power-driven nails often bend or break if you try to pound them back [...]

A lot of folks use a stone to put the final edge on a scraper before turning its hook, but I prefer to use a diamond paddle. It cuts faster than most stones and obviously won’t develop a rut, [...]

I rarely use a stain or dye right out of the can. I make my own custom mixes in small quantities until I get the color just right. In order to recreate the perfect mix in larger portions, I have [...]

I didn’t notice this misfit miter until glue-up. Fortunately there’s an easy way to hide narrow gaps like this one. Before the glue dries, rub the corner with a hard, rounded object, like a big [...]

Lapping the back of the plane blade can be a lot of work. My fingers have often complained very loudly, so I’ve tried many ways to hold the blade more comfortably. I’ve used a magnet, made from a [...]

When cutting circles on the band saw with a jig, starting the cuts tangent to the right diameter is a problem; this method simplifies it. I started with an extension table mounted flush with the [...]

This honing stone setup is part of my dedicated sharpening station. It consists of a plastic tray mounted in a plywood carrier box that also provides solid footing for a wooden stone holder that [...]

A micro-Adjust fence is the perfect accessory for making grooves, mortises, or other milling operations using a hand-held router. It allows you to precisely adjust the distance between the bit [...]

I make my own zero-clearance throat plates for my table saw to minimize exit tear-out on workpieces and to prevent narrow pieces from dropping into the saw. When raising the blade through the [...]

The traditional way to make a square finial on a bandsaw is to mark and cut the pattern on one side of the blank, then tape the offcut back on in order to guide the cuts on the adjacent side. …

I like to augment tabletops and drawer fronts with decorative banding, inlaying it around the perimeter. The problem has always been the fussy trimming of the mitered corners. It’s hard to cut [...]

Sanding between coats of polyurethane is tough on sandpaper. And I make it tougher, because I never wait the recommended 72 hours before recoating. But if the finish isn’t bone-dry, the paper is [...]