Tricks of the Trade

My contractor saw shares a garage with my car, so it’s stowed against a wall when not in use. It’s not an easy thing to drag into place when it’s time to set up for woodworking, so I decided to [...]

I find cutting dowels on the band saw to be a hassle. For one thing, the blade can grab the round stock and twist it out of your hand if you’re not using a support cradle guided by the miter …

Spring clamps are easily converted to miter clamps by adding swivel jaws. Remove the vinyl tips, and then hacksaw a 1/2″ long slot down the center of the metal jaws. Use needle-nose [...]

I edge-band plywood shelves with solid wood, attaching the edge-banding with #20 biscuits. It’s no problem at all to hold the plywood shelf solidly while cutting the slot; that’s what bench dogs [...]

A sharp pencil is a must for accurate work, but having a pencil sharpener permanently mounted in one place isn’t always ideal. The further away I am from my pencil sharpener, the less [...]

Planing stock to fit standard dados is much easier than trying to find the right chipper and shim combination to fit the dado to your stock. I cut five grooves in a scrap of plywood, using only [...]

Occasionally, I like to veneer my own cabinet doors. Like many small-shop woodworkers, I do the job by covering the veneered face with a platen, then applying clamping pressure onto the work via [...]

Making long, perfectly straight cuts with handheld power saws, such as jigsaws and circular saws, can be a real challenge. They aren’t difficult when a straightedge is used as a guide, but [...]

I needed an easy-access storage unit that wouldn’t take up a lot of room but would hold a large number of tools. My solution was a wall-hung tool cabinet with slide-out vertical pegboard drawers. [...]

This simple jig enables you to cut accurate tenons and slice very thin pieces. I use a flush-cut saw because it has no set to its teeth and, therefore, won’t damage the jig. Plus it leaves a [...]

Planing or scraping parts with angled or mitered ends is tricky. Bench dogs will damage a crisp corner, and clamps get in the way. To hold the work, I use an over-sized bench hook with a new [...]

A coping sled is a must-have accessory for router table work. It helps you hold a narrow piece, such as a door rail, perpendicular to the fence and backs up the cut to prevent blowout. At least, [...]