10 Tricks for Tighter Joints

Woodworking is sweet when everything fits right. Here are 10 ways to ensure your mortise-and-tenon, dado, dovetail, and edge joints close up tightly. 1. Cauls distribute pressure It’s not easy to [...]

Two-Headed Clamp

I’ve combined the working parts of two quick-action clamps to make a good tool even better. A two-headed clamp allows me to quickly make an adjustable-height table for my drill press or an [...]

Venetian Blind Trick

When gluing plastic laminate to a substrate, lots of folks use sticks or dowels to support the laminate. Supports allow you to perfectly position the laminate, since it can’t be shifted [...]

Spray Gun Cleaning Jug

When I clean my HVLP spray gun, this shop-made container captures the liquid solvent and fumes. When the gun is clean, I simply pour the waste into a storage container for disposal. Drill a 3-in. [...]

Storable, Portable Turntable

If you do a lot of spray painting and finishing, but don’t have room for a permanent finishing bench, give this turntable a spin. It’s surprisingly sturdy and because it rotates, you can get to [...]

Deadbolt Bench Stop

For a quick and simple bench stop, I mounted a sliding bolt taken from an old door to the end of my workbench. In the locked position, the bolt stays put, and in the unlocked position it’s [...]

7 Tips for Making Bandsaw Boxes

The biggest benefit: less sanding. Big Slice, Big Blade When you’re cutting the back off a big box, your best bet is to use a 1/2″ 4 TPI (Teeth Per Inch) hook-tooth blade, and guide the cut [...]

Two-Sided Tablesaw Insert

I needed a 1/4″ zero-clearance throat plate for cutting dados the other day, but my throat plate only had a 3/4″ slot in it. I didn’t want to interrupt my project to make or buy a new [...]

Disposable Guide Blocks

I’ve bandsawn hundreds of puzzle pieces using very small blades. I gave up on the steel guide blocks that came with my saw because when those little blades come in contact with the blocks, they’d [...]

Drawer Squaring Frame

I make a lot of drawers in my shop and got tired of fiddling with squares and pinch rods to square up the boxes during assembly. I decided to build a squaring frame to make the job go much [...]

Quick Rip Fence Adjustment

Like any table saw rip fence, mine needs occasional realignment to the blade. Because my miter gauge slots are aligned parallel to the blade, I just set my fence parallel to the right-hand slot. [...]

Re-Usable Tack Cloth

Micro fiber cloth picks up tiny dust particles as well as, if not better than, a tack cloth. Unlike a tack cloth, micro fiber cloths are washable and reusable. Rockler sells Norton’s micro [...]

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