Archives

Smooth-Cutting Hole Saw I cut a lot of discs and large-diameter holes in my shop. I was puzzled for the longest time because I was getting vibration and smoke. It even happened with new hole [...]

Dovetail Marking Jig This little jig greatly speeds the laying out and marking of dovetail pins. Make the jig so the thin piece is exactly the same size as the pin you plan to use. Then, mark a [...]

Easier Resawing I'm stuck with a wimpy 1/2 hp bandsaw that stalled whenever I tried to resaw anything tall. Then my neighbor turned me on to a technique that solved my problem. I pre-cut a [...]

Bevel Gauge For years I ground a way-too-shallow edge on my favorite chisel. It wouldn't hold up worth beans, so I dug through the junk drawer for something I could make a bevel gauge out of. [...]

Rubber Band Veneer Clamp I had tried everything to successfully glue veneer on curved surfaces: cauls, three-way clamps, string and tape, you name it. Nothing ever worked as well as this homespun [...]

Adjustable Curves Laying out a large curve with a cobbled-together, oversize compass is a pain in the neck. Instead I use a bowed slat that can be adjusted to any curve. I used to bend the slat [...]

Comfortable Dovetails Like the majority of wokbenches, mine is fine for planing but too low for cutting dovetails without prolonged stooping. My answer is to clamp a heavy backing board, as shown [...]

Normal 0 0 1 377 2153 17 4 2644 11.1282 0 0 0 I recently attended the JLC Live event in Providence, RI. It's an event for builders and remodelers. Since Festool was showcasing some new tools [...]

Starting today, and continuing each Friday, I'll be posting tips from the American Woodworker archives. This first one, however simple, is one of my all-time favorites, and one of the [...]

Bits for Impact Drivers The best tool for tough screwing jobs is an impact driver. It has much more torque than the average cordless drill/driver. The next time you want to run screws into a [...]

by Eric Smith   Lots of capacity, but at a cost.         Prized by carpenters for its amazing versatility, a sliding compound miter saw is also great to have in a [...]

Inside Greene and Greene Furniture How teamwork between architects and woodworkers solved classic problems in furniture design. By Tom Caspar Here’s a recipe for creativity: Mix two gifted [...]