Efficient Shop Wiring

A single cable provides 120-volt and 240V service. Every article I’ve seen describing the wiring of a shop for both 120 volts and 240V uses separate cables for each voltage, which is a [...]

Make Your Own Blast Gates

They’re cheap! All you need is some PVC and plastic laminate. A central dust collection system is a big improvement to any shop, but the cost can really add up. With commercial gates going from [...]

Deep Drawer Organizer

  I built a deep drawer for my workbench so I would have lots of storage, but it created another problem. The tools I wanted were always at the bottom of the heap. I solved my frustration by [...]

Drill Press Mortising Fixture

Cut mortises of any width and length in stock of virtually any size. Here’s a win-win proposition: Spend a day in your shop and turn your drill press into a mortising machine. This fixture makes [...]

The Shaker Stepladder

This functional form is an ideal intro to the Shaker Style. Learn how to make this useful project, all while sharpening your hand tool skills.

Modern Shaving Horse

Expert craftsman Tom Donahey shares his plans for an essential tool to work green wood. Few woodworking experiences are as sweet as working wood that’s just been split from a recently felled [...]

Upgrade Your Workbench and Outfeed Table

Welcome to my home shop. It’s fairly small — about 14×24 and located in our finished basement. It houses my collection of hand tools, lathe, table saw, router table, drill press, band [...]

Miter Saw Dust Collection Box

Effective control for a notorious sawdust creator In addition to being versatile, accurate and virtually indispensable, my sliding miter saw also excels at spewing sawdust and resisting effective [...]

EZ Planing Sled – Future Improvements

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 [...]

Small Tools Cabinet

Simple joinery creates a compact cabinet with full-size storage.    When I spied an old machinist’s chest loaded with narrow drawers in my neighbor’s garage, I knew my small tools were finally [...]

Building and Using the EZ Planing Sled

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 [...]

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