Archives

  Q & A: Why are new chisels so dull?   Q: Whenever I buy a blade, like a tablesaw blade or a router bit, it’s always sharp.How come when I buy chisels they’re duller [...]

Q & A: Dovetail Jig Set-Up Q: I’ve fallen in love with my dovetail router jig, but my big frustration is setting the depth of the dovetail bit each time. I’ve tried measuring how [...]

Make Corner Splines Decorative corner splines sure make an ordinary box look great. But they can be a bit dicey to cut on a tablesaw. Let your plate joiner come to the rescue. A simple jig holds [...]

Classy Face Frames I make a lot of traditional face frame cabinets and it?s always a problem covering the raw edge of the plywood at the corners. A normal face frame is very obtrusive when viewed [...]

Extract a Broken Screw Murphy’s Law guarantees that screws will break at the worst times. Fortunately, I’ve found a simple way to extract the headless shank and repair the damage. I [...]

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 [...]

Q & A: Board Feet Calculation   Q: I used to buy planed and jointed lumber (S4S) at a home center where it was sold by the lineal foot.Now that I have a planer and jointer, I want to buy [...]

Q & A: Rusty Router Collets Q: Returning to my shop after working outside this summer, I noticed a rusty film on my router collets and bits.What’s the best way to remove the rust [...]

At-Hand Tool Storage By Bob Ungar I hate fumbling around in drawers or digging into cabinets for tools.That’s why I love perf-board. It displays my hand tools out in the open [...]

Q & A: Truing a Framing Square   Q: I just inherited my grandpa’s framing square. It’s big and heavy and I’d like to use it but it isn’t square! How on earth can [...]

Q & A: Rub-Joint Gluing   Q: My panel glue ups drive me nuts because the boards slide around whenever I clamp them together. Then I end up beating them back into position. What’s [...]

Q & A: Final Rubout   Q: I always have problems getting a smooth finish. I sand the wood with 220 paper,wipe it with a tack cloth, apply three coats of high-quality varnish, and still [...]