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 with a fence. This blade is the widest that most 14″ bandsaws can handle. Its extra width helps…

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 throat plate, so I turned the old one 180° and cut a new slot in it. Why hadn’t…

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 dull right away. And, when I wanted to back out of a cut, the blade would pop out of the…

After sharing tips on leveling the table saw wings and aligning the blade with the miter gauge slots, I’m concluding this series with calibration advice on setting the 90-degree and 45-degree tilt limits. These stops ensure your cuts match the intended angle precisely. While you could check with a square each time, setting the limits…

Hand tools complement and complete work begun with power equipment. Most folks I talk with in the woodworking hobby seem to follow a similar path. They start out by emulating what they see on television, which is of course, power tools. Eventually, whether through magazines, web sites, forums or local clubs, they hear other woodworkers…

Occasionally I need to drill a hole into the end of a rail or other workpiece using the drill press. I’ve found that a metal shelf bracket makes a handy support, keeping the workpiece square to the table and in line with the drill bit. I simply clamp the bracket to the drill press table,…

In my previous post, I shared two useful tips to streamline the assembly of a SawStop cabinet saw. In this installment, I’ll focus on aligning the tabletop and the miter gauge slots with the saw blade. After setting up the wings and rails, I turned my attention to checking the parallelism between the blade’s surface…

My tablesaw’s top often does double duty as an assembly table. It’s a guaranteed-flat surface. When I glue or screw together a project, it won’t come out twisted. Sometimes I use the saw’s fence as a clamp to hold parts in place for fastening. The “fixed” end of the clamp is a stick that fits…

A little over a year ago, several boxes arrived in our garage, containing the parts for what would become the most expensive piece of equipment I’ve ever invested in: the SawStop 3HP Professional Stationary Cabinet Saw. In this and the following blog entries, I’ll share some tips on setting up this saw, which, in my…

Tool:18V Brushless Planer GH018V-26N Shop Now  Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $229 (Bare Tool) Every once in a while I’m fortunate to be struck by serendipitous situations in this job. After building the record stand I was left with a pile of perfectly good rough-cut walnut that would make some great boxes. Only problem was that it…

I’m not sure if I qualify as a tool nut–machine crazy is more like it. I started out using a ShopSmith, but I now have 17 industrial-grade machines. It all started when my wife saw an ad in the local paper for a planer. They were asking $350, so I figured that it would be…

Tool: 15-Amp 10-In. Job site Table Saw with Gravity-Rise Wheeled Stand GTS15-10Shop Now Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $649 While many woodworkers dream of the largest cabinet saw they can get their hands on, reality often dictates a different path. Whether it’s space or price that’s driving your decision, the new Bosch GTS15-10 is a solid choice…

Tool:M18 FUEL 61/2″ Circular Saw 2833-20 Shop Now  Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $229 (Bare Tool) Milwaukee recently announced their next generation of tools and batteries at their annual Pipeline showcase. You can check out the full list of all of the woodworking announcements at that link, and we’ll be looking closer at some of them, like…

How do you support an uneven piece on the drill press? Make something that’s the opposite shape, of course. After making 60 of these knobs, I realized that the directions didn’t include any advice on drilling the holes for mounting them. My tablesaw was still angled at 15°—the same angle as the bevels on the…

I’ve had trouble making square and smooth edges on face frame parts, but this planer jig solved all my problems. It produces accurate and consistent results. For the jig’s base, cut T-slots in a 3/4” x 11” board that’s a little bit longer than the planer’s bed and extension tables. Use T-bolts and wing nuts…

[Updated 7/17 4pm CST] Amazon Prime Day 2024 is here, and we’re rounding up the best deals for woodworkers! Keep checking in throughout the next two days as we update the list with tools and accessories! Don’t forget to check the lightning deals too! Jump to: Top Deals on Power Tools • Top Deals on…

Trimming small parts on a table saw using a miter gauge can be a little nerve wracking. In order to trim small parts safely, I mounted a handscrew to a piece of plywood. First I trimmed the plywood on the table saw so that the two long edges were exactly parallel. Then I gripped a…

About 30 years ago, my girlfriend led me to a dark, cluttered basement workshop to meet a sweet, 70-ish gem of a man: her grandfather, Hayes. He was surrounded by a lifetime’s collection of tools, and it was obvious that this was his domain. This was the first of my many enjoyable visits to his…

Tool: Ultra-Shear Blades Shop Now Manufacturer: Woodpeckers MSRP: $129.99+ Building upon the successful launch of Ultra-Shear router bits, Woodpeckers has released a new line of table saw blades sharing the same name. As with all Woodpeckers products, it’s evident that the utmost care went into manufacturing these blades. Woodpeckers manufactures these blades in-house, allowing them…

We set out to compare 11 premium dado blades to help you sort out which might be right for you. Dado blade stacks, comprised of two outer blades and a series of inner chipper blades, may have not changed much in the past 15 years, but recently new features have appeared, promising quicker and easier…

Ease and speed versus the idealization of the past – sometimes. When Lord Acton wrote that “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he was referring to politics, but he could as easily have been referring to tools. After all, he wrote this now-famous phrase in the spring of 1887, one year after Karl Benz patented his first…

Using a tablesaw to cut rabbets on the end of a board is nothing new.  If you’ve only got a couple to make, it’s hardly worth the time it takes to install you dado set. So, using your fence in conjunction with your miter gauge, you establish the final width of the rabbet. You finish…

In the first part of the story, I showcased my small bandsaw and discussed the basic procedure of aligning the blade over the tires and checking for drift during a rip cut. Now, in this segment, I will detail how I endeavored to adjust the table to compensate for the excessive drift towards the right…

While our new 1955 Crescent band saw was brand new on the pallet, that doesn’t mean it was in ready-to-go condition. The tires had deteriorated over the years, and we had to deal with the three-stage power requirements before the saw could be fired up and put to work.

Tool: Scale Miter Gauge Shop Now Manufacturer: SawStop MSRP: $249 One of the universal truths of life is that the miter gauge that comes with any saw is dang-near worthless. Oh sure, it’s easy enough to square it up and make a 90° cut, but setting any angle outside of that is akin to piloting…

Ensuring your band saw’s blade runs square to the table and miter slot is crucial for accurate ripping and cross-cutting. A blade that cuts without any drift makes sawing along the grain, or ripping, a breeze and also makes sure your cross cuts will split the workpiece at the intended angle. In this and the…

Logan is really digging the new Harvey Big Eye Rip Fence System. In this video, he walks you through the standout features he appreciates.  

Logan has finally found a band saw he considers to be adequately large — a 36-inch 1955 Crescent that was purchased as government surplus and never used. In this video, he walks you through the features and current condition of the saw, which does need some maintenance after 69 years of inactivity.

Sooner or later, the wooden runners of your tablesaw jigs will wear and become sloppy, resulting in inaccurate cuts. Having just replaced my kitchen floor, I’ve made new runners using some extra pieces of laminate flooring. This stuff is stable, durable, inexpensive and available at home centers. A free sample may be all you need!…

I needed a sacrificial fence for cutting rabbets with my tablesaw. All of the designs I’d seen required drilling holes in my saw’s fence or positioning clamps strategically out of the way of the workpiece. I came up with a thick, sturdy fence that’s easy to mount–and the clamps are always completely out of the…

Tool: Big Eye Rip Fence Shop Now Manufacturer: Harvey Woodworking MSRP: $1249+ There are times when there is a product released that I think really met the mark. One of those is the Harvey Big Eye Rip Fence. For years, there hasn’t been a quality aftermarket fence available. Now, I think there is, as the…

How to make strong mortise and tenon joints with a plunge router and a tablesaw. Imagine turning the clock back 500 years and visiting a fellow woodworker in any large European town. You could instantly strike up a conversation about the fine points of building a door with mortise and tenon joints—he’d know exactly what…

Achieving exact thickness is really important when making splines to reinforce box corners. The splines have to fit perfectly in the saw kerfs—a few thousandths of an inch one way or the other can make a big difference. I cut my spline material on the tablesaw, making it a bit thicker than needed, then plane…

Tool: Helical Cutter Head Shop Now Manufacturer: WGM ToolWorks MSRP: $340 (varies) In the last issue, you may have seen a photo of my helical cutter head for the large, vintage jointer that I’m restoring. On the hunt for more economical helical heads for “standard” sized machines, I came across a company selling quality heads…

Machine joints that look hand-made. Imagine cutting through dovetails with pins and sockets spaced any way you like—as if they were cut by hand. Now imagine cutting them without using a dovetail saw or a router. The humble fixture showcased above allows you to do just that—using your tablesaw. It allows cutting both pins and…

Tool: The Katz-Moses Universal No Deflection Stop Block – V2.0.1 Shop Now Manufacturer: KM Tools MSRP: $38.99 The KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle was reportedly coined by Kelly Johnson, who was the lead engineer at Lockheed Skunk Works back in the 1960s. And while the similarities between the SR-71 and the Katz-Moses Universal No…

Tool: M18 FUEL 18V Lithium-Ion Cordless Brushless 1/2 in. Router Shop Now Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $349 (bare tool) Over the last decade, the tool industry has made leaps and bounds when it comes to battery powered tools. Look at a battery pack from ten or fifteen years ago to today… It’s mind boggling how far…

Tool: 18V Brushless Cordless Compact Router R860444 Shop Now Manufacturer: Ridgid MSRP: $179 (bare tool) Ridgid has been on a bit of a tear recently updating and expanding their cordless tool lineup. That streak seems poised to continue with the release of the new R860444 18V Brushless Cordless Compact Router.  The router features a 1/4″…

When sawdust got packed into the back end of my planer’s blast gate, I couldn’t close the gate all the way.  I solved this annoying problem by cutting a notch in the gate. Now, when I close the gate, all the dust slides right through. –Fredrich Meder

Tool: VRS-200 Vertical Router Sled Shop Now Manufacturer: Infinity Tools MSRP: $319 Infinity Tools, out of Florida, has been known to design and manufacture some of the highest quality tools around. Their VRS-200 Vertical Router Sled is no exception. The milled aluminum base and tilting table scream quality as well as versatility. The sled is…

Zero clearance inserts are wonderful for eliminating tear out, but unfortunately, they also eliminate dust collection. To give my collection system an opening to pull sawdust through, I cut a 1/2-in.-dia. hole at the front end of the blade slot. In this location, the hole doesn’t adversely affect the benefits of my zero clearance insert….

There’s no need to fear the most versatile machine in the modern shop. There are good reasons that the table saw is at the center of many shops. This machine revolutionized the way we make things. And in recent years, it has become the center of controversy on two fronts: safety and accuracy. There is…

Tool: 18V Brushless Jig Saw R86344 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ridgid MSRP: $179 (bare tool) A thought occurred to me the other day — is the jigsaw the most versatile power tool? It can crosscut and rip. Make straight cuts or curved. It can even cut bevels and compound miters if used correctly. This mental…

Turn a contractor’s tool into a precision woodworking machine. I don’t know of too many woodworking shops, whether home or professional, that don’t have a miter saw as part of their equipment. A miter saw is a fine alternative to a radial-arm saw or circular saw for rough-cutting lumber. It’s also an accurate alternative to…

Tool:Electric Sawmill G0960 Shop Now Manufacturer: Grizzly MSRP: $3159 As a sawmill owner, I cut lumber for a variety of outlets. Most, I cut for myself. I then dry it and sell it to woodworkers like yourselves. (Heck, I even horde some of it for my projects, but don’t tell my wife that). Other times,…

Maximize your drum sander’s potential. 1. Skip the Scrape Eliminate laborious hand scraping of dried glue: contrary to popular belief, you can take glue-ups directly to your drum sander. The secrets are to use a coarse abrasive (24-grit to 60- grit, depending on the amount of glue and how uneven the glueup is) and feed…

Tool: 18V Brushless Cordless 6-1/2 in. Track Saw R48630B Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ridgid MSRP: $399 (includes saw and two 27.5″ tracks) Ridgid is the latest tool manufacturer to throw their hat into the ever-growing track saw field. On paper features like the brushless motor, full scope of adjustability including bevel range of -1 to…

When crosscutting a series of short pieces from a longer board using the table saw’s miter gauge, it’s dangerous to use the rip fence as a stop. The freed pieces can get jammed between the blade and fence, causing kickback. To prevent this, the usual approach is to clamp a wide “standoff” block to the…

Tool: CTS Compact Table Saw Shop Now   Manufacturer: SawStop MSRP: $899 Most woodworkers are familiar now with the SawStop line of table saws and their patented safety system that stops the blade and retracts it in less than 5 milliseconds when it comes in contact with human skin. SawStop has recently expanded their lineup…

Tool: DELTA 2 Portable Power Station Shop Now   Manufacturer: EcoFlow MSRP: $999 A while back Yoav wrote about the advantages of using a portable power station to run small tools outdoors. As someone who is constantly frustrated by extension cords (just how do they get so tangled?) I immediately understood the appeal. I recently…

Accurately drilling an angled hole with a hand drill is a challenge – particularly if you’re using a brad point or Forstner bit. This angled drilling guide solves the problem handily. The guide keeps the drill bit from wandering as it enters the stock. It can be cut at any angle, and its alignment marks…

Tool: Grr-Ripper 2 Go Shop Now   Manufacturer: MicroJig MSRP: $29 MicroJig, the company behind the much acclaimed, Grr-Ripper push block, recently released a new, trimmed-down version of the very same push block. The new push block, shown below, is called the Grr-Ripper 2 Go. Unlike its heftier big brother, the Grr-Ripper 2 Go has…

Crosscut sleds have been around for a long time, but few are ideal. Many are heavy and hard to store. Most develop an extra-wide saw cut in the fence and allow the blade to throw sawdust in your face. My design solves all these problems.

Vintage woodworking machinery can be a great bang for your buck.  Vintage woodworking tools have always held a certain appeal to me. Earlier this year, I was out in California with David Marks working on an upcoming project. In David’s shop, he has a 24“ jointer of  vintage make, and if you’d watched his TV…

Tool: Bear Crawl “Papa Bear” Mobile Base T28923 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Grizzly MSRP: $93.95 Being able to move heavy machinery in my tiny garage shop has been a game-changer for me. Mobile bases are my go-to instruments for transferring equipment and making space as needed, and I want to share my experience with one…

For small cabinets, I prefer to use small, discreet shelf pins that I make myself. I also make sleeves for the pins to fit into. Sleeves help hold the pins firmly in place. I make the pins from 1/16″ brass rod and the sleeves from 1/16″ i.d. brass tubing. Both of these are available at…

Tool: Thickness Planer 10044 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Oliver MSRP: $999.99 Oliver Machinery, a name recognized as a manufacturer of vintage woodworking machinery, has returned to the marketplace. Oliver, while no longer manufacturing in the states, has strong ties with their factory and is producing machines in smaller quantities. This allow them to quickly respond…

Tool: M18 Track Saw Kit 2831-21 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $639 (includes saw, 6ah battery, charger, and Packout XL toolbox) Few tools in recent memory have been as hotly anticipated as Milwaukee’s new track saw, and the new M18 Fuel model does not disappoint. It doesn’t break much new ground, but it’s a…

Last week the PW staff had the opportunity to spend an evening at Festool USA’s HQ in Lebanon, Indiana. In addition to learning some fun facts (the design is nearly identical to the worldwide headquarters in Germany, right down to the floor materials) we were able to check out some of the latest tools coming…

Demystifying volts, amp hours, and types of cordless tool motors. More and more, cordless tools are becoming everyday fixtures in the woodworking shop. The most common of these is the drill, which you can see broken down below. Most cordless power tools have the same basic components, though, so once you understand how one tool…

Can you assume that a board is straight, just because you’ve jointed its full length? Nope. It can still be as bowed as ever. You really should check it before moving on to the next piece. Rather than pull out a long straightedge, I just place the board against the jointer’s fence and look for…

It’s just like sawing a cove molding, but now the wood is round. “You’re kidding me!” That’s everybody’s first reaction when I tell them that I’ve figured out a way to make a bowl on the table saw. Then they ask, “Isn’t it dangerous?” Believe me, if it were, I wouldn’t be writing about it….

The limited crosscut capacity of my cabinet saw made it a challenge to cut wider boards, so I designed an infeed table that hangs on a wall when not in use and quickly and securely attaches to the front rail of my saw with Universal Fence Clamps (Rockler #31373). To make the infeed table, use…

Let’s face it: running a twisted board through the planer doesn’t make it flat. The board will still be twisted when it comes out. The trick is to use a sled that prevents the board from rocking as it’s being planed. That’s not a new idea, but I’ve made a sled that accommodates a board…

Tool: Whiteside Plus by Dimar Industrial Saw Blades Shop Now   Manufacturer: Whiteside MSRP: $76+ I had the opportunity to spin the newest blades from Whiteside Plus by Dimar. I thoroughly tested the Whiteside Plus dado blade in cabinet-grade plywood, both with and against the grain. The dado blade didn’t falter in sheet goods, but…

Tool: 9 1/4″ 36V Track Saw XSH10 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Makita MSRP: $542 As the owner of a sawmill, I have a variety of sizes of lumber that I work with regularly. Recently, as I’ve gotten into bigger pieces of live-edge lumber, I’ve found a need for a hand-held solution for cutting slabs to…

If someone walked up to me and told me I wasn’t a very smart man, I’d have a hard time arguing with them. There are often times when I do something knowing full-well that the outcome isn’t going to be in my favor. For example, I was recently cruising my local online classifieds when I…

I have a hard time throwing things away, such as these chucks from a couple of worn-out drills. To put them back into service, I bought a 3 ft. long, 3/8″ dia. threaded rod at the hardware store and cut it into two pieces, 12″ and 24″ long. I threaded the old chucks onto the rods and…

Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Popular Woodworking gift guide! This year we’re featuring a ton of great gifts for woodworkers, no matter what skill level they’re at. Know your price point? Jump right in below, or keep scrolling if you’re just browsing for ideas. $30 and under • $30 to $100 • $100…

Flying Sawdust Last summer, due to the heat, I covered my portable saw with a canvas tarp and retreated to the cooler air inside my basement shop.  For two months, the saw sat under the shed roof, unattended, until I needed to cut some boards that were too long and unwieldy to maneuver in my…

This versatile hand tool should be every woodworker’s first plane purchase. As a “professional woodworker” I often get asked what’s the best bang-for-the-buck tool by people getting into this craft. My response is always to ask if they have a good quality block plane. I know, it’s not the big, awesome aircraft carrier-like jointer plane….

Tool: R97801 18V SubCompact Drill/Impact Kit Shop Now   Manufacturer: Rigid MSRP: $199 (includes two 2.0Ah batteries, charger, carrying case) The tool Rigid’s lineup reinvention continues with the R97801 18V SubCompact Drill/Impact Kit. The kit includes their new 18v 1/2″ SubCompact brushless Drill/Driver and new 18v SubCompact Brushless Cordless Impact Drill, plus a charger, two…

Tool: PCL401 18v ONE+ Cordless 1/4 Sheet Sander Kit Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ryobi MSRP: $109.97 (includes 4.0Ah battery, charger, 3 sheet of sandpaper) The tool Ryobi’s new 18v ONE+ Cordless 1/4 Sheet Sander runs at 14,000 orbits per minute and features onboard dust collection. The kit includes a 4ah battery, charger, and three sheets…

Even with a zero-clearance throat plate in my tablesaw, a thin cut-off slips through now and then. These pieces can clog a vacuum hose or damage the blades of a dust collector.  I made a trap to catch them by attaching a piece of hardware cloth inside my saw, in front of the dust port….

Tool: 8240 Cordless Rotary Tool Shop Now   Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $99 (includes 2.0Ah battery, charger, storage case, and several accessories) Dremel has been a whirlwind recently, releasing several new models and updated old ones, most recently the new and improved 8240 High-Speed 12V Cordless Rotary Tool. The 8240 slots nearly perfectly between the flagship…

Shop-made hardware and precision joinery are the foundation for this Danish-inspired folding seat. Weave the seat: Paper Cord Weaving Download: LoungeChairPlans PDF Danish furniture is making a comeback these days. It’s been a favorite of mine from the moment I discovered the style. It had all the hallmarks I wanted in furniture: simple, beautiful design…

Not everyone’s ready to tackle hand-cut dovetails. Here’s how to get the most from your router and jig. Dovetails are prime joints. Long history, great appearance and cachet. Used in boxes, drawers and carcases. But for many woodworkers, cutting dovetails the traditional way – with saw and chisels – is an insurmountable challenge. If you…

Resawing can be a wild ride. You never know exactly what’s going to happen when you cut open a board! Just getting your tablesaw or bandsaw to work right can be an adventure, too. Resawing often pushes those machines to their limits. If you’ve tried resawing, and have had only had limited success, I hope…

In Conversation with Plane Maker Karl Holtey. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. In 2015, acclaimed hand plane maker Karl Holtey announced his impending retirement and was working on the 984 panel plane: what he intended to be his final production run of hand planes and…

Tool: 18V ONE+™ 5″ Random Orbit Sander PCL406B Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ryobi MSRP: $59 (bare tool with 3 sheets of sandpaper) Usually, the first steps of reviewing a tool are taking it out of the box, charging the batteries, then photographing the tool while it’s still in pristine condition. However, the new Ryobi 18V…

We take a look at six drills to see what sort of progress these tools have made in the past decade. There was a point in time when drill comparisons were ubiquitous in the pages of this magazine. There was an almost comforting familiarity in seeing the latest and greatest put to the test every…

Tool: M12 Fuel Brushless Drill/Driver 2503-22 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $169.99 (Includes charger, hard case, 2ah battery, and 4ah battery) We don’t tend to perform drop tests on our tools. Well not intentionally at least. But if we did, I would be more worried about damaging the ground than damaging the Milwaukee 2503-22….

Tool: 12v Cordless 3/8 Drill/Driver Shop Now   Manufacturer: Hercules MSRP: $39.99 (bare tool) + $34.99 (charger) + $24.99 (battery) The Hercules 3/8 12v drill isn’t the flashiest, most high-tech option on the market, and that’s not a bad thing. The motor isn’t brushless, there’s no fancy clutch technology, and you have to buy the…

Tool: 12v Brushless Drill Shop Now   Manufacturer: Hoto MSRP: $149.99 (Includes internal 2 ah battery, charging cable, 8 drill bits, and 10 screwdriver bits) I’m sure many of you out there, especially the ones that haven’t had their morning coffee yet, are wondering what the heck they’re looking at. Is it a massage gun? A…

Tool: 12v MAX Brushless Drill/Driver DCD701F2 Shop Now   Manufacturer: DeWalt MSRP: $149 (Includes charger, case, and two 2ah batteries) I’ve written before about tools being unobtrusive during use, and the DeWalt DCD701F2 is an exemplary example of that philosophy. If you asked me to name the standout feature it has over the competition, I wouldn’t…

Tool: 12v Brushless Drill/Driver GSR12V-300B22 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $129 (Includes charger, case, and two 2ah batteries) Shopping for a drill is often an exercise in compromise. You have to choose between 12v or 18/20v, how many batteries you need, and strike a balance between comfort and overall power.  At only 31.5 oz…

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 fits around the two base uprights and pivots on bolts. A cleat at the bottom keeps the sheet from sliding off….

I designed an outfeed support for my table saw that doesn’t take up any floor space. It’s made of plywood, hardwood and a store-bought roller. Three main design features enable it to work well. The runners are made of hard maple that resists wear and tear. The sliding mechanism is a dovetail that allows the…

Tool: 18V ONE+™ HP Airstrike Brad Nailer Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ryobi MSRP: $189 (bare tool) Most woodworkers want their tools to be as unobtrusive as possible during use. Ideally, your saw blades never leave burn marks, screw heads never strip, and you never notice your chisels getting dull mid-project. So last week, when I…

Ripping very narrow stock on the table saw can be a bit dicey because your push stick runs so close to the blade. If you’re not careful to keep it against the rip fence, it can tip into the spinning blade. And cutting short, narrow pieces is particularly difficult because the blade’s rising rear teeth…

Runaway Router My first router, a 1968 Stanley, was a heavy, single-speed machine. I remember it well because of what happened the very first time I used it. I chucked up a Roman ogee bit and made my very first pass. As I marveled, spellbound, at the professional-looking profile I’d just created, I switched off…

Tool: PowerStack Battery Shop Now   Manufacturer: DeWalt MSRP: $119 The staff here at Popular Woodworking just wrapped up a 12v drill competition that will appear in the August issue of the magazine. This is the first time we’ve done a drill comparison since 2009, and not to spoil anything, but the drills of today…

Have questions about the features of your drill? We have answers. Check out the short video below, then keep on scrolling for more detailed breakdowns of the clutch and gear adjustment settings. What does the clutch on a drill do? The clutch regulates the amount of torque (power) the drill will generate while driving a…

This workshop tip saves both time and money. Make your table saw inserts two-sided to pull double duty on projects.

Moby Dick, the Great White Planer The newspaper advertisement was brief: “PLANER, 24″, $450. Call.” My friend Charles Poth and I had been looking for just such a machine. We found the owner’s home outside rural  Jeromesville, Ohio, at the end of a long gravel road. The planer was stored outside under a raggedy canvas…

Like most planers, mine snipes, overcutting a bit at both ends of a board. Sometimes I’ll simply cut off the sniped areas if I can afford the extra board length. However, with precious woods, that can mean trashing a few bucks. Another technique is to closely precede and follow the board with a scrap of…

One of the most exciting new tools that my students and I got to try and use this year was the 6 Piece Bushcraft Survival Auger Kit with T-Handle and 5 Auger Bits in Tool Roll from WoodOwl. The new tool (practically it is a nice brass and wood handle) allows you to employ your…

I use lots of wedges in my shop, sometimes as disposable clamp pads for tricky glue-ups or for general shimming chores. Sometimes they’re incorporated into a project, as when making wedged mortise-and-tenon joints. I used to cut wedges on the band saw but the rough surfaces often proved to be a hindrance. I decided to…

Lasers are popping up on all sorts of tools. Are they useful – or just clever marketing? We investigate. Editor’s note: David asked this question way back in 2005, but with tool manufacturers still putting lasers on all sorts of tools, it remains relevant. If you take a look at all the new tools that…

A Forstner Bit can drill holes other bits only dream about. Forstner-style bits can go where no other drill bits dare. The reason is simple: A Forstner bit is rim-guided while other bits are center-point guided. That means you can use all or only part of the bit’s diameter to drill overlapped, angled or partial…

What tools do you need to start your woodworking journey? “What tools should I buy first?” is one of the more common questions I get from friends who are getting started woodworking. When you look on YouTube, everyone (ourselves included) is using a fully decked-out shop with all the newest, fanciest tools out there, and…

Hey! In our last episode of I Can Do That, we introduced the table saw. This time, we’re covering three table saw basics that will take your woodworking to the next level. We start by angling the blade. By angling the blade, you’ll be able to make bevels and chamfers that add a lot of…

Editor’s note: Special thanks to reader Bob L, who pointed out that putting a rare earth magnet that close to a moving saw blade can have catastrophic consequences. If you choose to use this tip, please ensure the magnet is adequately recessed and high enough to be out of the way for your specific saw. …

Tool: PM2820EVS Drill Press Shop Now  Manufacturer: Powermatic MSRP: $2709.99 The PM2820EVS drill press from Powermatic incorporates a very interesting motor design, combining an electronically controlled variable speed motor paired with gears. This gives the machine incredible torque, and it’s all controlled with a simple interface to dial in the correct bit speed. The low-speed…

Accurately set up for and safely make these versatile curved shapes. It was the 1970s. I was a young, lost woodworker out cruising the West Coast in search of inspiration, mentors, cool old tools and furniture to study. I found legendary furniture maker Art Carpenter at his studio in Bolinas, Calif. He showed me two…

While preparing to sand some cutting boards for customers, I decided to do the sanding outside after noticing how blissful the weather was. After all, why have dust in the shop when I can spread the particles in the yard? I could have rolled out one of my long extension cords (or perhaps bought a…

How does Dremel’s newest rotary tool stack up to one from 30 years ago? Tool: 8260 Cordless Smart Rotary Tool Shop Now  Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $169 (includes tool, battery, and carrying case) When evaluating a new tool, there are two paths often taken- how does the tool function for its intended purpose, and how does…

Tool: GEX18V-5N Brushless 5 In. Random Orbit Sander Shop Now  Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $129 (bare tool) Bosch recently introduced new 12V and 18V brushless cordless random orbit sanders. In addition to the latest brushless motor technology, Bosch paid special attention to lowering the center of gravity of the tool, allowing your hand to be closer…

I re-sharpen disposable planer blades a few times, using a shop-made jig, before tossing the blades away. I use a set of three diamond hones to sharpen the blade at an angle 5° higher than the factory bevel to minimize the amount of metal I have to remove. The jig is a single block that’s…

I recently thought I’d outfit my portable “benchtop” table saw with a zero-clearance throat plate to reduce tear-out and to prevent narrow strips from falling down through the wide throat opening. Unfortunately, the throat plate opening is very shallow and requires accommodating numerous odd-shaped tabs, so making a custom throat plate wasn’t so easy. I…

Not Your Average Rotary Tool As a woodworker and self-proclaimed tool connoisseur, I have found a big difference between the “consumer” and “professional” grade tools. Recently, I had the chance to play around with a professional tool, the NSK Evolution. Think of the Evolution as the hybrid between a dentist’s drill and a standard rotary…

Tool: MP160 Jointer Planer Shop Now  Manufacturer: Wood-Mizer MSRP: $4995 Wood-Mizer has started developing standalone woodworking machinery. This combo jointer/planer caught our eye because it does both operations without flipping the jointer beds up or otherwise adjusting the machine between operations. The machine has a 9″-wide jointing capacity and 16″-wide planing capacity—impressive for the footprint….

My portable planer uses disposable blades. When the first set got dull, I didn’t throw them away–I turned the two blades into very useful drawknives.  I wrapped duct tape around the ends of the blades and touched up their cutting edges with a diamond paddle. The narrow profiles of these tools are perfect for cutting…

Tool: 12V Max Brushless 2-Speed Screwdriver Shop Now Brushless 3/8″ Hammer Drill/Driver Shop Now  Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $100 (Screwdriver with battery) $120 (hammer drill/driver with battery) In the shop, unless I’m drilling big diameter holes, 12-volt tools provide all the power I need for drilling pilot holes and countersinks and driving screws. The new ultra-compact…

Welcome to What Really Grinds My Chisels, an occasional feature where the Popular Woodworking editors tackle subjects they feel passionate about. I recently received a press release from a large power tool manufacture titled “Gift Ideas For Her This Holiday Season.” This piqued my attention- not because I’m working on a gift guide myself –…

As it often happens with my ideas, the moment I start thinking about some type of innovation or another I gravitate to my sketchbook and try to evolve it on paper until I feel certain it has ripened enough and is ready to be built. But sometimes, at least with me, I have to force…

As I mentioned last week, a common way to flatten a board that is too wide for your jointer is to build a planing sled and then pass the board & sled through the planer. Via incremental milling, the uneven top surface of the board will be flattened, and then you can flip the board…

Like most of the woodworking community, I spent more time in my shop during 2020 and 2021. Over the last two years, I used a variety of tools and gained new appreciation for a handful of them. Some of these are new tools, others are ones that I’ve simply come to appreciate more. Following, you’ll…

Most woodworkers are homeowners, but not all homeowners are woodworkers. This article is more for the latter group; an introduction of sorts to the essential tools every homeowner should have access to. If you’re looking for woodworking tools specifically, this is the list for you. Each tool below features both an essential and advanced recommendation,…

As woodworkers, we rely on electricity to alleviate some of the heavy lifting burdens of milling, sawing, and drilling. Many of us use these machines quite often and I believe we would benefit from being able to maintain them and solve some basic malfunctions. A few weeks ago I turned on my Delta drill press…

For a long time, there was resistance from many in the woodworking community to battery-powered tools. Going “unplugged” usually meant reduced power, frequent charging, and the inevitable battery failure before the tool itself was worn out. That all changed with the introduction of lithium-ion batteries, and today there’s hardly a tool out there that doesn’t…

I own three bandsaws. Two are hand-me-downs from neighbors and the most recent arrival is a brand new Grizzly 17”  that I bought. The Grizzly is a great machine but like many of its peers, most of the bandsaw adjustment features are controlled by locking socket head cap screw, aka Allen screws. There is nothing…

The fundamental rules (and devices) to keep you clear of danger at your saw. I once heard that 90 percent (or more) of all table saw accidents involve some type of kickback, where the work flies back at the operator. Imagine what would happen to table saw accident statistics if we could eliminate kickback altogether….

A good substitute for traditional methods, this joint is strong and easy to make. A couple of hundred years ago, most drawers were assembled with hand-cut dovetail joints – half-blinds up front, through dovetails at the back. But it’s the 21st century now. Many of us don’t have time to hand-cut dovetails. We want something…

After milling the parts for the shelf’s frame, rabbiting them, and cutting the miters, (read the first part of this story here) I connected them to the legs with screws. I found out that the geometry of the shelf was closer to a trapezoid than a square or a rectangle. Plus, even if I could…

Tool: Ultra-Saw US20V Shop Now  Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $179.00 I recently had the opportunity to test Dremel’s first cordless multi-saw, the Ultra-Saw US20V. This type of compact saw is becoming a mainstay in toolboxes for carpenters and DIYers, and Dremel clearly did its homework. The saw is designed for flush cutting, plunge cutting, and surface…

Six years ago my neighbor and friend Dave gifted me his vintage Sears Craftsman 12” band saw. I love this machine and use it quite a lot. Sears used to make these saws and sell them mainly to hobbyists and amateur woodworkers, but should not be disregarded by serious woodworkers; this machine is quite reliable…

Grab your torch and pitchfork; the hand-tool guy has a table saw. Editor’s note: this article appeared in the November 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking People react with shock and horror when they learn I have electric machinery in my Kentucky workshop. After all, I’ve been writing almost exclusively about handwork for almost 20 years…

Here’s a hi-tech way to set your tablesaw’s miter gauge to within 1/10 of 1° of any angle. It really works well for cutting picture-frame miters. The key is to use a digital angle gauge. I bought one designed for woodworkers that has as a handy magnetic base. For this degree of accuracy, you’ll also…

Tool: 6-Amp Power Planer Shop Now  Manufacturer: Porter-Cable MSRP: $69.98 Say you’ve got a huge, uneven roughsawn board. It would make a fantastic top for a coffee table, but how are you going to level it? Well, one way is to use a power planer, such as this unit from Porter-Cable. A power planer is…

Methods that allow wood to move with the seasons. About a decade ago, I made a drop-leaf table for a book of projects. When it came time to mount the top, I just drilled pilot holes and drove cut nails through the top into the aprons. Are you horrified? Actually, the approach worked great. In…

Jointing with a Planer I across some wonderful oak boards for a small table I wanted to build. The problem was the boards were too wide for my jointer, and I didn’t want to rip them any narrower. I solved my dilemma with this planer sled that allows me to use my planer as jointer….

  Harvey Tools recently released a new line of shop tools aimed at the hobbyist under the Ambassador name. We got a chance to put both the 14“ bandsaw and the C200-30 table saw to work in the shop, and overall, we were quite impressed—especially factoring in the bang for the buck factor. C-14 Bandsaw…

Tool: Installation Drill/Driver Shop Now  Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $179 (bare tool) I use mostly 12-volt cordless tools in my shop. Modern technology helps you do a lot with lighter, more compact tools. But it wasn’t until I needed to install hardware in a kitchen full of kitchen cabinets that I realized how much that compactness and flexibility…

While we lust for a 20″ monster, most woodworkers would be just as well off (or better) with a ‘suitcase planer.’ When I started woodworking in about 1993, I wanted two things: a table saw with a decent rip fence and the biggest thickness planer on the planet. In my opinion, planers are the biggest…

Tool: Ryobi One+ HP Brushless Series Shop Now  Manufacturer: Ryobi MSRP: $99+ I recently had the chance to sample the new line of ONE+ HP Brushless Power Tools from RYOBI. Like most brushless tools, they are more energy-efficient and powerful while featuring lightweight, compact design. There’s not a bad tool in the bunch, but a few were…

When you’ve been around for 100 years, you’re allowed to celebrate yourself, and that’s just what Powermatic is doing. Throughout 2021 they will be releasing seven tools to commemorate their centennial anniversary. First off this spring will be special editions of the 54H Jointer, 15HH Planer, PWBS-14CS Bandsaw, and PM1300XT dust collector. Each of these…

Tool: TID 18 impact driver Buy Now T18+3-E drill/driver (non swappable collet) Buy Now Combo Pack Buy Now  Manufacturer: Festool MSRP: Starting at $199 for bare tool Premium Impact Driver and Drill Editor’s note: Not every version of the T18+3-E that Festool sells appears to have the swappable collet. The version that Popular Woodworking tested did. Like all power…

Tool: Laser Drill Press  Buy Now Manufacturer: Delta Delta’s 18″ drill press is specifically designed for woodworking. The difference is in the table: It’s a big improvement over the tables designed for metalworking on most drill presses. First off, Delta’s table is quite large: 20″ wide by 14″ deep. That extra width is particularly useful for supporting…

Tool: Glide Miter Saw Buy Now Manufacturer: Bosch MSRP: $649 That’s right—glider, not slider. This innovative miter saw from Bosch has the same huge capacity as a 12″ slider—without the rails. The blade assembly glides on a set of articulated arms rather than sliding on a set of rails. The result is a saw that can…

Tool: Dremel 4000 Buy Now Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $149 The Dremel 4000 was designed to be easier to use and longer lasting than previous models. It’s recommended for carving, engraving, routing, grinding, sanding, cutting, cleaning and polishing. The tool features a 1.5-amp, variable-speed motor that runs from 5,000 to 35,000 rpm. Replaceable motor brushes extend the motor’s…

Tool: MakerX Ultimate Combo Kit Buy Now Manufacturer: Worx MSRP: $229.99 Battery technology comes to a few of the craftier tools in a woodworker’s kit. Worx has paired a 20-volt battery/power supply with a variety of smaller handheld tools. Yes, there’s still a cable attached to these tools when you use them, but you’re not tethered…

Did you know that woodchips can tuck themselves under a planer’s blade? Well, as crazy as it sounds it really happen to me last week.  We have a great thickener planer in our shop. It’s a Ridgid machine that is built well, works well, and is priced well. We bought it two or three years…

I have read with envy about spacious shops with room for many dedicated stationary tools. But alas, my shop is confined to a 200 sq. ft. corner of my basement. After tinkering with layout plans, I finally concluded that the “dream” cabinet saw I wanted to buy wouldn’t fit in my pint-sized shop. I didn’t…

Tool: ZEROPLAY Miter Bars [Buy Now]  Manufacturer: Microjig MSRP: $35.95 A crosscut sled is one of the handiest jigs you can build for your tablesaw, but making the runners is fussy work. They have to fit tight in the miter slots, yet still be loose enough to slide. This requires a tolerance of only a few thousandths…

In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for 2020. Here are some of our favorite tools and products we discovered over the last year. Supercell Dust Collector – [Buy…

Tool: Powermatic 15HH Manufacturer: Powermatic MSRP: $3199 A powerful planer gets the job done much faster. Remember the ’65 Ford Thunderbolt? The ’67 Olds Cutlass? The ’69 Pontiac GTO? They’re classic muscle cars—rods with powerful engines, designed for speed. The world of planers has its muscle cars, too—machines with plenty of horsepower and the capacity to quickly…

Super-Accurate Tablesaw Tilt Tablesaw tilt gauges are inherently inaccurate. After all, the degree lines are usually at least 1/16″ wide. I use a digital angle gauge instead, which is accurate to 1/10 of 1°, and mount it on a bracket in front of the saw. You could attach this gauge directly to a saw blade…

Sponsored by SawStop When I think of SawStop, I think immediately of the technology behind the brand and the saw. The fact that the blade stops with 1/10 of a second and retracts under the table when it makes contact with flesh. That it’s the only company on the market that offers this very effective…

These modern machines are for more than just the space-challenged woodworker. I’ve got a nice woodshop, but it wasn’t always that way. I started with a contractor saw in the garage. A while later I moved to a bigger house where I could have a dedicated shop. One of the first things I bought for…

Make your ‘MegaSled’ into a shop workhorse.  Previously, we built the MegaSled – a table saw sled designed to accommodate a series of joinery jigs. The jigs and attachments I cover in this article are just the beginning – and with them, you can cut flawless finger joints, tenons, lap and bridle joints, and even…

Too many times we look for complex solutions when the answer is right in front of our eyes. This is an old trick, but a good one – drilling pilot holes for nails using the nail itself. It works with both wire nails and cut nails. With a pair of lineman’s pliers, clip the head…

Make accurate and safe crosscuts with ease – and set the stage for clever accessories Most power-tool woodworkers have at least one table saw sled. And while a sled can make your work safer and more accurate, a well-thought-out sled can also do much more. Sometimes I call this one the “MegaSled,” other times the…

Tool: Smart-Bit Depth Setter Manufacturer: Starborn MSRP: $18.99 Starborn Industries has set the benchmark for driving screws. The Smart-Bit Depth Setter allows you to sink screws to a consistent depth every time. Although it was first introduced to the deck-building industry, there are a lot of features about this little tool that make it appealing to furniture…

When you slide open a small drawer that fits nice and tight, it’s a pleasure to see well-crafted joints.  Small, handcut dovetails answer well, but sawing and chopping them requires a lot of skill and practice. Here’s a joint that’s far easier to make: a half-blind tongue and rabbet. It’s all done on the tablesaw….

Tool: Table Saw Setup and Sanding Disks Manufacturer: Infinity MSRP: $29.90 This tablesaw set-up/sanding kit from Infinity really hits the mark for me. As I’ve noted in the past, a tool with more than one use always puts a smile on my face. The heart of the kit is a 1/8″-thick, 10″ diameter steel plate, ground flat…

This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking. The dream of a “barn find” looms large in most people’s imagination, whether it’s 1,000 board feet of 18″-wide walnut or a ’67 Mustang (pony interior, of course). Problem is, it rarely happens to you. My turn came last fall when I stumbled…

Tool: Powermatic PM1000 Manufacturer: Powermatic MSRP: $2400 (50″ fence) This saw packs a professional punch for your home workshop. Powermatic’s PM1000 table saw isn’t over-shadowed by its big brother, the PM2000, and it can fit into your home workshop without the added fuss of rewiring your home. Straight out of the crate you can see that…

  Tool: 18-900L Drill Press Manufacturer: Delta MSRP: $1499 In many woodworking shops, the drill press might be the most under-utilized piece of machinery in the shop. Many common drill presses need to be tweaked to handle many woodworking tasks, but Delta’s 18″ drill press (18-900L) handles whatever you might throw at it. Most reviews rave about…

Tool: 12-1/2″ Variable Speed MIDI-LATHE Manufacturer: Delta MSRP: $659.99 If you need a lathe in a small shop and don’t have the room or just don’t want to wrestle with a full-size machine, bench top lathes are a great solution. Delta has introduced two bench top lathes: one lathe has five speeds while the other lathe is…

Whenever I make a right angle cut on my tablesaw, I use a sled. If I’m cutting large panels, I use a big crosscut sled. I pull out a smaller sled for rails and legs. To cut tenons with a dado blade, I use a third sled, one with a 3/4″ wide slot already cut…

Tool: Super General T.K. Manufacturer: Infinity Price: $109 Do you avoid changing blades on your tablesaw? Do you feel like your tablesaw doesn’t have enough power? Is your current blade coated with burned residue? If you answer “Yes” to all these questions, then it’s time to take a good look at a high-quality thin-kerf blade like…

Think of it almost like a DIY track saw. Crosscutting a full sheet of plywood on a tablesaw is pretty difficult, particularly when you don’t have any help. I use a circular saw and this shop-made edge guide, instead. The cuts aren’t finish quality, of course, but at least I end up with smaller pieces…

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 cuts, I realized that the parts were “creeping” ever so slightly during the cut. I needed a stop…

Face jointing boards requires some safety precautions to keep your fingers out of the danger zone. I made this simple push plate with a cleat on the back end. Two handles allow me to apply downward pressure, and the cleat hooks over the workpiece’s end, providing forward pressure. The push plate is made from two thicknesses…

A storage tray is a useful addition to any stationary tool. After adding this one to my tablesaw, I don’t know how I ever did without it. I made the tray about 3″ deep, just deep enough to store the essentials lower than the surface of my saw, but shallow enough to keep items from…

The handles on hand-wheels are uncomfortable. The one on my lathe, for example, was difficult to turn when drilling into hard wood with a Forstner bit. Using a chunk of scrap, I turned a 2 1/4″ ball, and then drilled a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the handle. Now, when need to drill,…

Store and use key benchtop tools on a single mobile unit. Innovative features such as a lever-operated mobile base and dual-height pullout tool platforms give this bench a five-star rating, especially if you have to share space with cars and other vehicles in a garage shop. The mobile base works just like a floor jack,…

Hose-Free Nailer Editor’s Pick Tool: Ryobi P320 Airstrike 18 Volt One+ Manufacturer: Ryobi Price: $99 (bare tool) No hose? No compressor? Now that’s an idea I can get behind. The new Ryobi One+ 18 volt Brad Nailer with Ryobi’s AirStrike technology is a pleasant surprise. The One+ nailer shoots 18 gauge, 5/8″ – 2″ brad nails,…

Trimming miters used to drive me crazy, because I couldn’t hold the piece I was trimming securely enough against the miter gauge. The piece would always slide away from the blade during the cut. I solved the problem by covering the miter gauge face with a 120-grit PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive back) sandpaper. One 5″…

A zero-clearance throat plate is a must-have for every tablesaw. It prevents small offcuts and thin strips from dropping down alongside the blade which is really annoying. Some manufacturers sell blanks specifically for their saws. If not, you have to make your own. It’s pretty easy. You just raise the blade through the blank, and…

From the Editors and Contributors In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for 2019. Here’s our top ten, plus one tool storage accessory thrown in for good measure. Auto-Jig…

Pegboard isn’t just for walls—it’s perfect for organizing stuff wherever you need to store it. I’ve bolted a piece of perfboard to the end of my table saw’s extension table to hold all the accessories I turn to each day in the shop. Choosing from a wide variety of hooks makes it possible to hang…

Tool: Jobsite Saw Pro Manufacturer: SawStop Price: $1400 SawStop released the first version of their portable table saw about five years ago. Packaging their flesh-sensing blade brake technology in a smaller, more affordable format made it more attainable for a larger portion of woodworkers and folks on jobsites. This upgraded version of their jobsite saw…

While working on my pegboard cabinet and trying to integrate into it most of my frequently used tools I noticed that one of them, a Woodriver spokeshave, didn’t have a hanging hole. Hanging holes are quite a common feature on many tools, and are part and parcel of all the Stanley and Record cast iron…

After years of fumbling with clamps, I decided there must be a better way to attach featherboards to my tablesaw’s rip fence. Two T-tracks screwed to the fence allow me to mount a piece of plywood with a side-mounted track for attaching featherboards. Now I can set and adjust my featherboards with ease.—Loren Englemann

Get more out of your table saw with these four handy jigs. These simple jigs take advantage of the table saw’s speed and accuracy without tempting you to perform risky operations.

Choose complementary blades for perfect results. In the dark ages of woodworking, before carbide, you never used the same blade for ripping and crosscutting. Cutting plywood required yet another blade. Today, hybrid blades allow you to avoid blade changes entirely—unless you want absolutely perfect results. Then it’s better to have more than one blade. I’ll…

Make your brad nailer safer and easier to use with these tips. From avoiding the blowout curse to making your nailer last longer, it’s surprisingly simple to get more out of this tool.

Super-tune your table saw for absolutely straight, smooth and burn-free cuts.

Shooting boards are typically pretty simple. A bench will have several variations nearby, but there are plenty of times when I have wanted a few more boards. This is where the Veritas Shooting Board shines.

The DCW210 5-inch random orbit sander is the latest woodworking tool in DeWalt’s 20-volt MAX cordless line. We gave it a try.

A storage tray is a useful addition to any stationary tool. Add a table saw tray to your shop to keep tools handy, yet out of the way.

Resawing on the bandsaw allows you to cut logs into lumber, make thin boards from thick and cut your own veneer. Here’s how.

A collection of our favorite router tricks recently unearthed from our archives. A router is truly one of the most versatile tools in the shop. Enjoy!

Cordless Drill Mortise Mill Editor’s note: This product no longer appears to be available. This mortising jig is small, but don’t be fooled by its toy-like appearance; the JessEm Pocket Mortise Mill II is a finely crafted, precision jig. Coupled with a hand drill, you can make clean, accurate 1/4″ mortises for loose tenon joinery….

The The BT&C Planing Stop is a small toothed plate, intended to serve as a buffer stop when planing a board on the bench.

I was pretty impressed with the Makita cordless track saw when I reviewed it back in June, but there’s one thing that has been bugging me recently. The hose. The fact that this machine is cordless is wonderful, it packs plenty of power, you don’t have drag a power cord in the midst of an…

Leigh — known for accurate and clever joinery jigs — has a new box-joint jig for routers (for handheld use or on router tables). It’s designed to create 1⁄2″- and 3⁄4″-wide box joints and looks similar to other jigs, so I was ready to be under whelmed until I set it up and started checking out the features.

Tool: 18V LXT Brushless Cordless Compact Router Kit Manufacturer: Makita Price: $350, buy it here Trim routers are quickly becoming a standard item in cordless lineups. It’s hard to beat the convenience and portability. The Makita brings a lot of great features to the table with the 18V LXT, including both a fixed and plunge base…

Upgrading tools is a really touchy subject. As a hobbyist/enthusiast there’s a fine balance between needs, desires, and budget. I can remember those nagging mantras…“buy once, cry once,” “buy your last tool, first,” “get the best money can buy.” That’s all great if you have an endless supply of cash burning a hole in your…

Pocket holes are my go-to for quick and easy assemblies – shop furniture and jigs made out of plywood – as well as making face frames and cabinets.Castle’s newest pocket hole machine, the Castle 100, puts the features of their larger, floor-standing models into a format that fits in the small shop – the machine…

Here’s a tip on how to cut curves on the bandsaw. When cutting a circle or an odd shape from a square piece of lumber on a bandsaw, you’ve probably dealt with the annoying corners that try to pull the material out of your hands as they catch on the bandsaw’s table. Then there’s the…

I recently received a press release that Powermatic brought a new version of their popular 3520 lathe to market.  The new version, “C”, is the 4th generation of the 3520 lathe family. The new features really grabbed my eye, so I gave the product manager for this new lathe, Michael D’Onofri, a call to hear first hand…

This past week I’ve been out in the Popular Woodworking shop, doing a bit of maintenance. Many of our machines were bought many years ago – while they’ve been maintained well and used by careful workers, every machine needs a bit of TLC every once in a while. The biggest hurdle in adjusting and maintaining…

First a disclaimer: This is a recollection of impressions following the installation and test running of our new 6” Grizzly spiral Cutterhead jointer, that we bought at full price this fall.  As many of you know, I teach woodworking at the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan. Our program is mainly geared towards hand tool work….

From time to time, Festool offers their reconditioned tools in a big sale, which presents an opportunity to purchase their tools at a decent price point. Several of my tools from Festool are reconditioned, and I wouldn’t have known – they came “like new.” A new website from the German toolmaker has cropped up, with a…

Compact & Feature-Packed DeWalt introduced their new 20 Volt Max compact impact driver last year, and I absolutely loved it. Now they’ve improved it by switching to a brushless motor, adding three speed settings and redesigning the collet to make it easier to change hex-style bits. A brushless motor is more efficient, and that translates…

Track saws are a favorite among on-site installers and carpenters, for breaking down sheet goods, trimming floors and other operations common on the job. Their portability and accuracy make them a godsend for contractors. Many woodworkers have a circular saw in their shop and use it for crosscutting, kerfing out large joinery or cuts where the tool…

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is currently considering requiring “active injury mitigation” (AIM) technology on all table saws that, writes the Power Tool Institute (PTI) in a press release, would more than double the costs of these products. PTI is concerned that the price increase would make a table saw out of reach…

As with most things in woodworking, there’s more than one way to fit doors and drawers. Nothing beats a handplane for precision, flexibility, and speed when you have a solid bench and vise. A table saw can also do the trick – quite well, in fact, even for tapered cuts. But what about those times when you’re working…

There are many ways to cut this popular edge-to-edge joint. by Bill Hylton from the April 2005 issue A tongue-and-groove joint is an edge joint with a mechanical interlock. The edge of one board has a groove. A matching tongue is formed on the edge of the mating board. The tongue goes into the groove,…

This legendary planemaker’s career has been dedicated to innovation. There is no straight path between a childhood spent in a camp for displaced persons in Germany’s Black Forest at the end of the Second World War, and a workshop in the Scottish Highlands making some of the most desirable handplanes in the world. Nonetheless, that…

In the video below, Doug Dale discusses the evolution of jointer knives, and shows how he changes the segmented cutters on a helical head.If you’ve ever been to the Marc Adams School of Woodworking outside Indianapolis, you’ If you’ve ever been to the Marc Adams School of Woodworking outside Indianapolis, you’ve surely met Doug –…

Featherboard Ripping Stop I’m always on the lookout for different ways to use the things I already own. I found that I didn’t need to buy or make an extra jig for ripping thin, uniform strips on my tablesaw, for example. I use my featherboard. The featherboard clamps into the saw’s miter slot. I just…

Lightweight but solid, this two-knife model is a decent starter machine. Web site: grizzly.com Blog: See the inside of a straight-knife planer and a helical-head version. Blog: Get the skinny on spiral cutterheads. I admit to some skepticism as I unboxed the Grizzly G0790. This benchtop planer has only two knives, and at just $285 (plus $49…

A Low-angle bench planes allow you to change the blade’s effective cutting angle to suit specific tasks. Because the bevel points up on a low-angle plane, the effective cutting angle can be varied based on the iron’s bevel angle.

Turn on the sander and exert just enough pressure to keep the pad in place.The rust should be gone in a matter of seconds.

Use a bandsaw, not a tablesaw. It’s not good shop practice to rip a board less than 12 in. long on the tablesaw because it may kick back at you.

Q: My tablesaw screeches like nails on a chalkboard whenever I adjust the blade. WD-40 made the noise go away for a while, but now it’s back. What do I do? A: That sound can drive you crazy! It’s a clear sign that the gears under your saw are due for lubrication. The original lubricant…

Router Table Box Joints Making box joints on a router table is a time-saving alternative to making them on the tablesaw. You don’t have to fuss with a dado set, for one. More importantly, using a router table leaves your tablesaw free for making those unexpected cuts that every project inevitably requires. This box joint…

Question & Answer Is your miter saw square? Q. I want to adjust my miter saw so it’s dead-on accurate, but I don’t have a fancy square. How do I do it? A. Use an old woodworker’s trick: set up your saw as close as you can with whatever square you have (see photo below),…

Black & Decker’s new 8V MAX* Impact Screwdriver Black & Decker’s new 8V Max* Impact Screwdriver will make a powerful impact this fall, boasting up to 10X more speed+ and 2X max torque++. The top two complaints involving screwdrivers are speed and power. Black & Decker is bringing true power and innovation to the screwdriving…

Tablesaw Tool Drawer It seems like I’m always misplacing my push sticks, blade wrench, featherboards and other small tablesaw accessories.To solve my problem I added a shallow drawer under the side feed table. I simply built a wood box that was open in the front and screwed it to the bottom of my side table….

Make Quartersawn Picture Frame Stock If you’ve got some spare 8/4 (2-in.) lumber lying around your shop, it’s easy to transform it into stunning quartersawn wood for your picture frame. Quartersawn figure in almost every wood is really something special, and quite different from species to species. Even an ordinary piece of thick oak, maple…

The Ultimate Shop-Built Crosscut Sled It's safe, it slides like a dream and replaceable throat plate makes it last forever! By Travis Larson A good tablesaw sled makes perfect crosscuts easy, accurate and very safe. In addition, a well-designed sled can be used for bevel cuts, dadoes and with a few shop-made jigs, you can…

Coved Doors on the Tablesaw Make beautiful raised panels without a router table and expensive bits. By George Vondriska The tool of choice for most small-shop woodworkers who want to make raised panels is the router: A large one, generally 3 hp,hung in a router table, plus a set of specialized bits.  But what if you just want to make…

Tablesaw Tenoning Jig A precision joint-making tool for less than $30. By Frank Gregg A tablesaw tenoning jig is an essential tool for most woodworkers. But commercial units cost $100 and up, and shop-made jigs that I’ve tried, all riding on the fence somehow, were unstable and hard to adjust. So I devised this jig,…

Redesigned Planer Delta has just introduced a new 13″ planer, the 22-590. It replaces the 22-580, a model that received top marks in our planer tool test back in 2003. In the years since, few other small planers have met the very high standard set by the 22-580. Is the new model a step forward?…

How Can I Avoid Kickback When Resawing on a Tablesaw?   Q: Is there a splitter that can be used for resawing on a tablesaw? Mine is hooked onto the blade guard so it won’t work. A: It’s unfortunate but true; you can’t use a conventional splitter for resawing on a tablesaw. But,what you can…

Should I Run My Tablesaw on 120 or 240 Volts?   Q: My contractor’s saw pops a breaker every once in a while, and that’s driving me crazy. I noticed that its motor can be wired for either 120 or 240 volts. I don’t have a 240 circuit in my shop yet. Do I have…

Double-Duty Roller Tables I like getting double duty out of my tools whenever possible. So, when I decided to build outfeed tables for my miter saw and tablesaw, I worked up this dual-use design.The roller tables are simple to switch between machines and take up very little space when I store them against the wall….

Tablesaw Tapering Jig I recently built a pair of garden benches that required several identical parts that were tapered on both sides.To make the job easier, I built this jig that worked for both angles. The two screws make setting the angles quick and precise. On the first cut, the edge of the board rests…

Perfectly Parallel Fence Here’s a quick and easy way to align your tablesaw fence with your miter slot.Plane down a board until it fits into your miter slot without play. Now slide the fence up to the board and use a feeler gauge to determine your fence alignment. It’s that easy. This story originally appeared…

Tablesaw Storage Cabinet All of your tablesaw accessories close at hand By Eric Smith The last time I could find them all, I counted 18 accessories for my tablesaw. Dado set, push sticks, throat plates, extra blades, miter gauges, tenoning jig, wrenches, etc.—they’re all essential and they were all over the place. The problem is…

Woodworking in America is just a week away, so it’s best if you register for the conference (great woodworking information), or purchase your ticket for the marketplace (great tools) right away. For the editors of Popular Woodworking Magazine, this means we are all head-deep into preparation for our sessions, getting setups ready and dragging the…

This week I was in the shop working on an upcoming magazine article. On the case back there are two dados that locate and hold the drawer dividers of the project. For me, that generally means I pick up my router and get busy. This time, because I needed two matching slots, I decided one…

Super-Size Disc Sander A 15″ disc sander like the new 15-205 from General International, is a great addition to any shop if you’ve got room on the floor and in your budget. There was a time when every patternmaker’s shop had a large sander like this for precision work on large pieces. Most of those…

Q & A: Silencing a Squeaky Tablesaw Q: My tablesaw screeches like nails on a chalkboard whenever I adjust the blade.WD-40 made the noise go away for a while, but now it’s back. What do I do? A: That sound can drive you crazy! It’s a clear sign that the gears under your saw are…

Q & A: Planer or Small Drum Sander? Q: I’d like to try using more rough lumber, but I’m not sure whether to choose a portable planer at around four bills, or a drum belt sander at around eight.What insight can you offer to help me make up my mind? A: Like most tool purchases,…

Q & A: What’s the Deal with Combination Planer/Molders? Q: I’m shopping for a planer, and am also planning to do a bunch of trim work in my house: crown moldings, door casings, and the like. I’m intrigued by the planers that also can be used to make moldings. What do you think of them?…

Q & A: One Step at a Time Q: ARGH! I cut all the parts according to the cutting list and my face-frame came up short! I worked out the math and the cutting list was correct. What went wrong? A: Rule number one when building complex projects directly from a set of plans: Don’t…

Q: I’ve got an old plane that my grandfather left me. I’d like to use it, but its cutting iron is really rusty. Do I need to buy a new one? A: Don’t throw away that iron yet. Flattening the back of a plane iron is usually the first step in sharpening, but you might…

Q & A: Sawing Aluminum Q: Can I cut aluminum with my chop saw? A: Yes.Most carbide blades work fine for occasionally cutting aluminum, but we recommend using a special, non-ferrous metal-cutting blade (about $70) if you cut a lot of aluminum or brass. It’s safer to use than a standard blade because the geometry…

Q & A: Slot Cutter vs. Plate Joiner Q: I saw an ad for a slot-cutting router bit. I have a router and buying the bit instead of a plate joiner would save me a lot of money. Is there a downside to this cheaper option? A: It depends on what kind of joints you…

Woodworking is not a difficult endeavor. It’s not, really. It is woodworkers that make it difficult. Over-thinking and sweating the small stuff causes us to pause, or even stop. It’s better to get out in the shop and make something – anything – happen. Just recently, in a comment posted to my personal blog site,…

How to Buy a Bandsaw This workhorse is one of the four basic stationary tools in most shops, and can greatly expand the kinds of projects you can build.   A bandsaw can rip, crosscut, resaw and handle curves, angles and compound cuts. This workhorse is one of the four basic stationary tools in most…

Joint Rough Lumber with a Planer I came across some wonderful oak boards for a small table I wanted to build. The problem was the boards were too wide for my jointer and I didn't want to rip them any narrower. I solved my dilemma with this planer sled that allows me to use my…

My recent dining table project build allowed me the perfect opportunity to dig into my stash of exceptionally wide – and wonderful – air-dried black walnut lumber. In that pile are boards up to 26″ wide. In the past I’ve dealt with some stock that’s wider than any planer I have access to by knocking…

I don’t generally think of power tools in the same reverential, (perhaps) overly romanticized tones that come to mind when I consider hand tools. I can stare at my grandfather’s 8 oz. Kentucky Bluegrass claw hammer for hours daydreaming about what may have caused the nicks and wear. Or imagine the unknown maker who’s hands…

This one-page basic guide will get you up to speed on drill bits and drilling. Includes: Visual guide to basic types of drill bits Eight common drilling problems and solutions Chart of suggested speeds for different bit styles, sizes and types of wood Download the PDF here: Your Guide to Drill Bits – Tom Nunlist…

Extra-Large Loose Tenons By Brad Holden Big parts require big joinery. The success of Festool’s Domino joiner, a portable machine that makes smallscale loose-tenon joints, has prompted Festool to up the ante. The new Domino XL makes much larger joints— large enough for almost any project. If you consider the original Domino to be the…

Clean Rusty Tools by Electrolysis Electrolysis is a gentle, safe way to chemically remove all the rust from small tools, and it leaves the iron untouched. An abrasive can remove rust, too, but it may require removing a large amount of metal, either weakening the piece or destroying its value. Here’s what you need: A…

A hearty congratulations goes out to Bill Ketler of Silver Spring, Md., winner of our Workshop Makeover Giveaway, sponsored by JET Tools and Bessey Tools. He will be adding $6,000 worth of tools to his shop including a table saw, planer, band saw, dust collector and jointer from JET Tools, and a K Body REVO…

We’re excited to announce the winner of the JET ProShop Table Saw Giveaway. Bruce Metzdorf of Granger, Ind., will be getting a brand new JET JPS-10TS 10″ ProShop Table Saw with a 30″ fence to add to his shop. Bruce has been working wood for the last 10 years and has been reading Popular Woodworking…

How a Collet Works • A collet is the steel sleeve that holds a router bit in a router. The collet works with the router shaft (connected directly to the motor) and the collet nut.   • Collets are machined to perfectly mate with the tapered recess in the end of the shaft and to…

Vintage hand drills – sometimes called “eggbeater drills” – are common, useful and easy to fix up using stuff you already own. You can buy hand drills all day long on eBay and never deplete the world’s supply because they were in every homeowner’s toolbox. When I buy a hand drill, I don’t pay much…

Slot & Spline Paneled Door Hands down, the easiest way to make a frame-and-panel door. By Tom Caspar Purchase the complete version of this woodworking technique story from AWBookstore.com. A good-looking frame-and-panel door is really quite easy to make, if you keep it simple. The doors in this cabinet are held together by splines made…

Anyone who has glued up a few doors knows how frustrating it can be attempting to build assemblies that turn out both flat and square. As I’m working on a cabinet article for the April issue of the magazine, I’m happy to have a few quick jigs on hand that make the process much less…

I’ve been making these wine bottle stoppers as gifts for the holiday season. They are a lot of fun to make on the lathe and it doesn’t take very long to knock a few of them out. I use an electric die grinder with a carbide bit for the decorative carving on the top of…

Soup Up Your Shop The right accessories for maximizing your performance and safety. By Dave Munkittrick Here at American Woodworker we see a lot of tools and accessories.We’ve been impressed by how the right accessories—either store-bought or shop-made—can dramatically improve the performance, convenience and safety of shop tools. Most of us have something we’d like…

To join veneer edges together, they need to be straight and true – just like when gluing up solid lumber. Gaps are not allowed. Granted, veneer edges are not glued in the same way as solid lumber, but are taped together to form a wider piece, called a veneer face. There are a number of…

Mission Bookstand Display your scrapbooks, photo albums and woodworking skills. By Tom Caspar Woodworkers like to see how things work, right out in the open. We love looking at gears, levers and cams, and when it comes to furniture, there’s nothing more fascinating than exposed joints, like dovetails and wedged tenons. This bookstand is held…

Recently, when I was cutting up some prototypes for the feet of my workbench on the band saw, I ended up with some interesting offcuts. I liked the shapes, especially when I sandwiched them together because they were perfectly symmetrical, so I threw them aside instead of in the garbage. They were made of an…

JET’s Bench Power Tools Cramped for workshop space? JET® offers woodworkers a solution with its BENCH™ top line of power tools that includes 10- and 12 in. miter saws, 10 in. jobsite table saw, 10 in. band saw, 8- and 10 in. planer/jointers, and a 12 in. variable-speed drill press. When radial arm saws gave…

The Powermatic Limited Edition ONYX Series Powermatic® spotlighted its Limited Edition ONYX Series of woodworking machinery at AWFS, commemorating the brand’s 90th anniversary. These seven exclusive stationary power tools, available only through December 2011, sport a distinctive black ONYX finish with gold trim, plus the Powermatic 90th anniversary emblem. Each stationary tool in the Limited…

Eight New Tools and a Combo Pack Ridgid launches X4 a new generation of cordless tools that are compact and lightweight without losing any of the power! The new X4 5 PC 18V Lithium-Ion Combo Kit include best-in- class features on all the tools in the kit. The heavy-duty 5 PC kit includes a hammer…

DeWALT’s 24 Inch Tote with Power Tool Case The two-in-one storage solution allows contractors to easily store power tools, hand tools and accessories—like drill bits, nails and screws—in the power tool case, which also functions as a lid. DEWALT announced today the introduction of its 24 Inch Tote with Power Tool Case (DWST24070). The two-in-one…

The 2011 AWFS Fair is underway in Las Vegas (the big show ends Saturday, July 23) and I’ve picked through the aisles looking for innovative new products. I’ve found several, so here’s a look at what’s coming from various manufacturers. Bosch Random-orbit Sander Kills Vibration I’ve known more than one woodworker who’d wear gel-filled gloves…

I’ve told this story to many woodworkers, but I have yet to post it in a blog. One day before Dad passed, he called me to complain that he was having to fit every tenon to it’s mortise by hand. (Many woodworkers choose to work that way, but to us it was a detriment in…

Rockler Circle Cutting Jig Affordable Rockler Circle Cutting Jig sets up in seconds, no math required. Cut flawless circles up to 52" in diameter. Rockler's new Circle Cutting Jig makes cutting circles and arcs easier and faster. While setup time with other jigs may require solving a few complicated math problems, Rockler's Circle Cutting Jig…

This past weekend I was in the magazine shop working on a project for the August issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The only hint I can give about the project is that the piece I’m working on has small drawers. In building those small drawers, I opted to use a couple techniques and ideas that…

Sometime in the Summer of 2011, Festool will introduce a new ultra-compact drill. The company calls the drill CXS – Conquer. Xplore. Solve. The CXS is expected to become your everyday drill-driver. It’s lightweight and with the possible chuck changes, it is effectively three drills in one. In a new T-Loc systainer (read more about…

A few small wafers can help strengthen any project you’re working on. By Bill Hylton Pages: 90-92 From the June 2004 issue #141 Buy this issue now Biscuit joinery is so fast and easy it almost seems like cheating. And I gotta tell you, I’m no cheater. Consequently, I pretty much ignored the system, sticking…

Two matching mortises connected with a strong ‘loose tenon’ will help strengthen any project. By Bill Hylton Pages: 36-40 From the April 2004 issue #140 Buy this issue now I may be a power tool kind-of-guy, but I still favor traditional joints, those proven through centuries of use. The mortise and tenon is one of…

These joints look great. Cutting and clamping them is the real trick. By Bill Hylton Pages: 38-40 From the February 2004 issue #139 Buy this issue now What joint would you use at the corners of a case? If appearance is a consideration – when is it not? – you definitely don’t want an ugly…

Cut this stout joint using a simple jig, and your table saw or router. By Bill Hylton Pages: 28-31 From the June 2005 issue #148 Buy this issue now Visit most any antiques store or flea market, and you’re sure to see stacks of old wooden boxes marked with the logos of bygone businesses. Small…

Use your router to join wood along simple and complex curves. By Bill Hylton Pages: 36-39 From the June 2006 issue #155 Buy this issue now If you rip a board in two, you can easily rejoin the pieces along the line of the cut. But you can’t rejoin two pieces that have been cut…

Tricks and procedures for perfect tool setups. By Bill Hylton Pages: 84-86 From the April 2006 issue #154 Buy this issue now When you are using power tools for cutting parts and joinery, accuracy has less to do with laying out individual workpieces and more to do with mastering setups. I have a simple routine….

If an 18-volt Lithium-ion drill-driver is in your sights, you just may want to take a look at the new DCD760 from DeWalt. This drill driver is ready to take on the competition in the compact drill-driver tool category, and its rise to the top could be quick. At a mere four pounds – including…

Grizzly recently announced a new line of entry-level machines, painted white with a special polar bear badging. The initial offerings include a 10" 2 hp Hybrid Table Saw, a 14" Ultimate Bandsaw, a 17" Heavy-Duty Bandsaw, a 12" Baby Drum Sander, a 1-1/2 hp Shaper, an 8" Jointer and a 15" Planer with a Mobile…

Forrest Manufacturing recently announced that the company now offers two metric versions of its deluxe Custom WoodWorker I Blades for use on Festool plunge cut circular saws. These two Custom WoodWorker I Blades are especially suitable for joinery and other specialty applications. They deliver high quality cross-cuts with both hardwoods and softwoods. This eliminates the…

      Every so often I need to plane down a piece of wood that is too small for my jointer. To handle these small jobs, I devised a stand for my No. 5 Stanley jack plane.The plane rests upside down on two wood blocks that fit up between the ridges on the sides of the plane. This keeps the plane…

    A scrollsaw blade can be tough to see as it goes up and down 1,000 times or more per minute. This can make it hard to follow your line. An easy solution is to spray paint the blades a bright color.