No-Fuss Flush Trimming

My flush-trimming setup allows trimming veneer and solid wood edging up to 7/8-in. thick. It consists of a router with a 1/2-in. straight bit, a table and a perpendicular fence. A 1″-thick [...]

Mobile Suction

My dust collector, though pieced-together, is the perfect solution for my one-car garage shop. I use a cyclone separator and 5-gallon bucket in conjunction with my shop vacuum. For easy mobility, [...]

Shoot from the Blue Line

I use a piece of painter’s tape to mark dadoes when I assemble cabinets. Then I know exactly where to shoot nails or install screws and there aren’t any pencil lines to sand off when I’m [...]

Bench Cleanup

When my bench’s tool tray fills up with sawdust and hardware, I’ve found that the easiest way to clean it is to use a vacuum. To keep the hardware from going into the vacuum, I cover [...]

Tool Chest Odyssey

I purchased this classic tool chest at a yard sale in Maine, while on vacation. The case had only two drawers remaining, and no handle. The seller said he had every intention of restoring it, but [...]

Wax Paper Lubrication

An old-timer showed me this trick years ago and I’ve used it ever since. Plain old waxed paper is great for lubricating my tools’ cast iron tables and miter gauge bars. Whenever I start to feel [...]

Wedge Workshop

I built my wedge-shaped workshop twelve years ago. It’s 470 square feet, which is too small, as every woodworker knows, but my options were limited, because the shop had to fit between my house [...]

Tool Storage Book

Put a ton of tools up on the wall in this tool “book.” Hang 1/2“ or 3/4“ thick plywood “pages” 4“ apart on horizontal 2x4s with 3“ door hinges. Screw and glue …

Cheap Blade Protectors

Here’s a dirt cheap way to store your saw blades and keep their carbide teeth from knocking into each other. Slip the blades onto a 3/8″ dia. landscape nail, using plastic coffee-can lids [...]

Bow Blues

Bow Blues After preparing the laminations, bending form and heat box for the fiberglass longbow I planned to build, I mixed the epoxy—and promptly began to mess up the entire project. First, I [...]

Marking Gauge Refills

The blade of a marking gauge must be as sharp as a scalpel in order to cut a fine line across the grain. Sharpening it can be very difficult because it’s so small. I solved that problem by [...]

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