Creating CNC Textures
Three ways to achieve different types of textures with your CNC router. CNC Routers open up lots of new ways to create textures in wood. Here are my three favorite ways of creating textures using [...]
Classic Door Joinery
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 [...]
The Woodturning Scraper
An essential part of your turning tool arsenal. There’s a theory in woodturning—popularized by some British turners—that wood “prefers” to be cut rather than scraped. While I agree with this [...]
The Amazing Table Saw Bowl
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 [...]
Bullet-Catch Bench Dogs
Bullet-Catch Bench Dogs When I built my workbench, I drilled round bench-dog holes in the top so I didn’t have to cut square mortises. Being a thrifty sort, I didn’t want to shell out for [...]
Hammered Cat
Hammered Cat The handle on my favorite hammer needed to be refinished, so I sanded it, sprayed on a coat of polyurethane and hung it over the edge of the picnic table to dry. A moment later I [...]
“Turn” Handles Into Savings
The price of good turning tools can be pretty steep. Since most of the better lathe tools can be purchased without a handle, put your money where it counts—in the steel, not the handle. After [...]
Precision Height Gauge
To set the height of a router bit—within .001″, if necessary—I made this simple stand for my caliper. It works on a router table or a hand-held router. Two screws with washers secure the [...]
Fast-Track to Flat Stones
Tool: Dia-Flat Shop Now Manufacturer: DMT MSRP: $220 Flat stones are essential to good sharpening. The Dia-Flat from Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) is certified flat to within [...]
Silky-Smooth Rub-Out Finish with Varnish
Three quick steps to a silky-smooth finish. Brushed-on finishes such as varnish provide superior protection, but they dry so slowly, airborne dust and renegade hairs are almost sure to settle on [...]
Wiggle-Free Guide Bars
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 [...]
Shop-Made Rocker Jaw
Shop-Made Rocker Jaw One simple board, cut into the shape of a seesaw, can make a huge improvement to your vise. It allows you to firmly hold tapered work and long, upright boards off to the side [...]