Lumberyard Bowl
Although most bowls are turned from green material, working with kiln-dried lumber has its advantages. You don’t have to deal with checks and cracks or significant distortion. Sanding is [...]
Small-Job Sprayer
Tool: Preval Spray System Manufacturer: Preval Price: $5 For spraying small projects, this portable, self-contained Preval Spray System sprays almost any finish quickly and easily. Just fill the [...]
Easy Bench Upgrade
Tool: Inset Vise Manufacturer: Veritas Price: $98 A good tail vise sometimes ends up being an after-thought. When you built your bench, maybe you could only afford to shell out for the face vise, [...]
Crosscut Sled Stop & Hold Down
I had to crosscut narrow strips to make a cutting board. The boards were too wide for my miter saw, so I decided to use my tablesaw’s crosscut sled. I tried a standard stop, but after a few [...]
Medieval Folding Stool
Have you ever heard of a “faldstool?” You’ve probably seen one in a movie that’s set in Medieval or Renaissance times—it’s the distinctive portable chair that a [...]
Arts & Crafts Oak Finish
When a customer asked me to replicate the finish on her antique Stickley sideboard for the pieces she had commissioned, I grabbed my yellow dye and a few gel stains, because I knew that a layered [...]
The Powermatic PM1500 Bandsaw
Tool: PM1500 Bandsaw Manufacturer: Powermatic Price: $2999 Nothing beats a powerful bandsaw for milling boards from a log, roughing out massive blanks for turning or carving, or resawing wide [...]
Stretchy Tape
Clamping an irregular shape usually requires a lot of ingenuity, but here’s a novel approach: Elmer’s new Clamp Tape. It stretches up to 300%, like a giant rubber band, and sticks [...]