Shop Tips - Page 120 of 165

I've found that expensive slot-cutting machines aren't really needed for plate joinery. A 5/32-in.-wide, three-wing slot cutter mounted in a router table works well. To use the router for edge-to-edge…

A good tablesaw tenoning fixture must be heavy, strong, rigid and accurate. That's why I made my massive tenoning fixture from an old laminated-maple, science-lab tabletop. The fixture has two…

I needed several sticks of dentil molding for some bookcases I was building. My first inclination was to measure and mark each dentil and make the cuts freehand on the…

In 1946, a friend described a ball-turning device his machinist had made to fit an Atlas lathe. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to look at it. I've tried to…

I'm always looking out for interesting hardwood scraps, split firewood and small logs for turning blocks. But hand-feeding the irregular shapes through the bandsaw to cut them into usable pieces…

Some of my projects require cuts at 12¡ or 15¡, but my tablesaw's miter gauge is limited to 30¡ to the left or right of the 90¡ setting. To expand…

This circle guide uses a length of standard steel keyway stock, available from machine shops, as a replacement for the saw's upper right-hand blade-guide insert. Adjust the blade's thrust bearing…

Here is the procedure I used to accurately mill the surface of a 4-ft.-dia., 288-year-old ponderosa pine section destined for a museum exhibit. I utilized the shop door as a…

I don't have a planer. So when I needed to thickness stock for some custom moldings, I built this attachment for my hand-held power planer that makes quick work of…

These simple little fixtures turn any workbench with two rows of benchdog holes into a clamping table. These clamp cradles reduce the wild scramble that accompanies gluing up edge joints,…