Razor Scraping

Many of us are familiar with the technique of using a razor blade to scrape away drips from varnish and other film finishes. It’s a great way to level defects, especially if you use a brand-new [...]

Shop-Made Wing Nuts

Wooden wing nuts are so much easier on your hands than metal ones. Plus, it’s a great way to use up shop scraps and leftover hex nuts while avoiding a trip to the hardware store. Start with a [...]

Quick-change Band Saw Table

I find my stock band saw table too small to support many workpieces, so I outfitted it with a larger, auxiliary table. However, I wanted to be able to remove it quickly when I needed to utilize [...]

Benchtop Screw Stops

To create a planing stop on my workbench, I decided to go the simple route. I installed and countersunk a short row of #12 brass flathead screws near the edge of the bench, spacing them an inch [...]

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 [...]

Multiple Plugs

  Faced with cutting hundreds of plugs for a big project, I came up with this idea: I cut the plugs a little deeper than needed. Then I ran strips of masking tape down the faces of the [...]

5 Nifty Storage Solutions in Your Shop

Everyone can use some creative storage solutions in their shop, which is why we dug through the American Woodworker archives for some classic storage tips. Portable Hose Reel Instead of mounting [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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