Customary Marks

  These furniture maker’s symbols are an international language. They have been used for generations because they’re easy to make and easy to understand. A board’s working face and edge are [...]

Quick-Release Hose Clamp

I have a couple tools from which I frequently remove the dust collector hoses. I got tired of getting out my screwdriver and cranking out the adjustment bolt every time. After a bit of [...]

Swing-Under Bench Tools

In order to keep my bench clear for working, yet have the tools I need close at hand, I came up with this stowable mounting system. Each of my bench tools is mounted on a board with slotted guide [...]

Mini Router Tables

I’ve acquired a bunch of routers over the years—enough so that I can afford to keep a few permanently mounted in these mini router tables. For lots of jobs, you don’t need a large table or a [...]

Waterproof Outdoor Projects

When used as an undercoat or sealer, brushable epoxy greatly reduces expansion and contraction in wood. Coat all parts prior to assembly and make sure epoxy gets down into the fastener holes. If [...]

Magnetic Muscle

Is there any doubt that magnets positively rule? I’ve never welded anything in my life, but found a great woodworking use for something familiar to metalworkers. And it’s no wonder I like them: [...]

The ‘Ultimate’ Hand Tool Shop

Perfection doesn’t exist. But you can come close. One of the first things any beginning woodworker must do is set up a workshop. Like so many other things a novice woodworker must do, the [...]

A Slick Digital Angle Gauge Trick

I’ve found that my new digital angle gauge is a great tool for setting an accurate angle on a miter gauge. To set the desired angle, first stand the miter gauge on its face on the rip fence’s [...]

Using Your Noodle

While lounging at the pool one afternoon, I had an inspiration. I “borrowed” one of my kids’ floating pool noodles, cut it into sections and used the pieces as universal connectors for vacuum [...]

Plug-Cutter Routing Fix

Here’s a simple, invisible repair for an all too common mistake. Say you’re flush-trimming a board and, for whatever reason, your router’s bearing dips into a dent and makes an [...]

Buffing Station in a Box

My sharpening procedures involve a lot of buffing with compound. On one side of my buffer I’ve mounted a hard felt wheel, and on the other a paper wheel shaped to buff concave bevels. To prevent [...]

Shop-made Flip Stop

Over the years, I have often clamped stops on my drill-press fence to register hole locations in workpieces. Unfortunately, I always seemed to lose the stops. Flip stops always seemed like a good [...]