Shop Tips - Page 143 of 164

Here is a jig that's easy and fast to make and to use. It's basically a stick with a dowel through it, clamped to the table-saw miter gauge to give…

A simple wooden strip tacked to the bottom of the workpiece will let you rip panels that are too wide for the rip fence on your table saw. Size the…

Here is an effective mandrel for turning the outside contours of bracelets. You'll need an arbor (made for using buffing and grinding wheels on the lathe), a rubber stopper and…

This reversible jig is useful when you need to cut a number of identical pieces with angled dadoes on opposite sides. The two dowels and the saw fence locate the…

Here's a trick for straightening a bowed board. Tape a piece of angle iron to the concave edge of the board to serve as a guide, as shown. If the…

The homemade stabilizer device shown above allows me to turn four-poster beds and architectural columns on my 9-ft. lathe. The stabilizer eliminates the whipping and vibrating that accompany long-stock turning.…

Here is an accurate and simple way to crosscut plywood panels or boards that are too wide to cut using the saw's miter gauge. Start with a straight 1x2 longer…

The circle-cutting jig I use in my shop offers several advantages over other circle-cutting jigs published in Methods of Work. First, because the jig uses the miter-gauge slot in the…

Here's a fixture for cutting mortises on the drill press using fluted end-milling cutters. A lateral control mechanism, made from 1/8-in. steel plate, pivots at three points and gives the…

For five years I have looked unsuccessfully for a 10-in. table saw with a "rolling table" facility for crosscuts and miters. The one I'm familiar with is a big, old…