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When I’m sanding pitchy wood or removing old finish, my sandpaper gets really gummed up and I can’t get it clean with the rubber eraser-type cleaner. I used to throw it away and buy more. [...]

I needed a way to lift pieces off the surface of my bench for finishing, so I made some 3/4″ x 2″ x 3″ blocks and inserted 1/4″ x 1-1/4″ dowels into them. [...]

I’ve dried my own lumber for years, but I always had a problem getting enough weight on top of the stack, to keep the upper boards from warping. Here’s a solution: Use clamps made from threaded [...]

Shocking Taste I turned on my shop vac to clean up the pile of sawdust that had accumulated while I ripped some pine boards for a cabinet. I live in Colorado, where the air is always dry, and my [...]

Hoisting heavy sheets of plywood and MDF onto my tablesaw is not my idea of workshop fun. That’s why I devised this pivoting rack— and began storing my sheet stock vertically. The rack’s frame [...]

After designing and building custom furniture in southern California for 24 years, I finally got to build my dream workshop. Inspired by the Craftsman style and the designs of the brothers Green, [...]

  I built a deep drawer for my workbench so I would have lots of storage, but it created another problem. The tools I wanted were always at the bottom of the heap. I solved my frustration by [...]

Here’s a simple way to protect your chisels from getting nicked and rusty rattling around in your toolbox. Just cut the fingers off some old leather work gloves. Poke holes with an awl at [...]

My shop is in a walkout basement with a steep grassy slope from the driveway.  The skateboard-like devices made for moving stock work well on hard surfaces, but not on grass.  My solution is an [...]

While making a base for a wooden vase, I had to glue up a small octagonal shape. I made this simple band clamp from a piece of string and a rubber band. Here’s how it works: first, tie one end …

Rout raised panel look-alikes in minutes.  Raised panel doors made with traditional stile and rail joinery are my first choice for cabinets. But I don’t always use them. For example, cabinets for [...]

I can’t stand throwing away good wood. When I’m turning a goblet or any other object, I don’t leave the waste areas blank. I pick up a gouge or a skew and use the waste to perfect my turning [...]