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My tablesaw’s top often does double duty as an assembly table. It’s a guaranteed-flat surface. When I glue or screw together a project, it won’t come out twisted. Sometimes I use the saw’s fence [...]

I bought this old 18” bandsaw for a song from a used machinery dealer over 30 years ago. “It came from a local high school,” he said. “I heard that it was purchased by the school back in the [...]

I love the convenience of mobile bases, but I hate it when they wobble on the floor even when they’re locked down. I got my chock block idea at the airport where the ground crews use something [...]

I’m not sure if I qualify as a tool nut–machine crazy is more like it. I started out using a ShopSmith, but I now have 17 industrial-grade machines. It all started when my wife saw an ad in [...]

How do you support an uneven piece on the drill press? Make something that’s the opposite shape, of course. After making 60 of these knobs, I realized that the directions didn’t include any [...]

Here’s a surefire method to ensure flat glue-ups. Use cauls, top and bottom, made from Unistrut. This steel channel is used for light-duty structural support in electrical and plumbing [...]

I really like bright-colored speed squares because they’re easy to locate on the job, but I find them difficult to read. To solve this problem, I spray-painted my speed squares black. After [...]

I use a hand plane to remove milling marks, even on pieces that are 1/8″ thick or less. To hold the work, I made a stop whose top is only 1/32″ thick. When I’m planing wood [...]

Assembling furniture with dozens of Allen-head fasteners is no fun if all you have is a standard Allen key. Faced with one of these jobs, I sped up the process by using a mechanic’s socket [...]

Hacksaw blades ganged together make a really useful file, one that can be as wide or narrow as you wish. The blades may be full length or half-length. (Use a rotary tool to cut them in half). To [...]

Breezy Bandsawing Reasoning that I’d only be cutting small stuff in my basement shop, I parked my bandsaw diagonally in a corner. Then I decided to make one of those arched-top garden arbors. My [...]

Finishing the plugs for covering screw holes is a pain. When you run a brush or rag over them after they’re installed, they’ll probably cause the finish to run or drip. Finishing them [...]