Paul Mayer

The Rewards (and Risks) of Stabilizing a Lathe

March 2, 2021 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog.

Adding weight to a lathe, or bolting it down to the floor, can stabilize the lathe and deliver a better turning experience. But, is it hard on the lathe?

Why You Should Buy a Laser Engraver for Your Shop

March 2, 2021 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog.

Here’s what a laser engraver can add to your woodworking shop, and what it takes to operate it.

Sam Maloof Tour – A Glimpse into the Life of a Legend

February 11, 2021 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog.

Sam Maloof influenced multiple generations of woodworkers through his innovative and curvaceous designs, work ethic and generous spirit.

Wood Carving Disc for your Angle Grinder

July 24, 2020 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog, Product Review.

Add a power wood carving disc to your angle grinder, and you can open up a whole new world of woodworking project possibilities. But if you’re new to this game, the dizzying array of product choices might leave you more puzzled than excited. Let me take some of the mystery out of the process and help you choose your first power carving disc.

Turn and Carve a Spouted Bowl

July 24, 2020 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog, Lathe, Power Tool Woodworking.

This sweet little spouted bowl with handle will be a fun skill-building project, taking your bowl turning skills and adding a bit of flair by incorporating some basic carving techniques using a die grinder and rasps. For the carving purist, traditional carving tools can be used as a substitute, making for a more serene creative process.

Upgraded Safety for an Older Table Saw – Introducing Shark Guard

July 24, 2020 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog, Power Tool Woodworking, Table Saw, Woodworking Safety.

If you have ever operated a table saw without proper safety equipment in place due to the quality (or lack thereof) of your stock blade guard, or the hassle of installing and removing it, then the Shark Guard after market blade guard might be of interest to you. The Shark Guard provides a manual riving knife, a high-quality Lexan blade guard, and customizable dust collection to virtual any table saw.

Do I Really Need an Impact Driver?

December 27, 2017 By Paul Mayer & filed under Buying Advice, More Portable Power Tools, Portable Power Tools, Tool Education.

Impact Driver vs Drill I’m going to spoil the ending. Yes you do need an impact driver, right away. Stop reading. Go to store. Buy an impact driver. Thank me later. If you feel the need to understand why, read on. Impact drivers are creating a lot of buzz on the internet these days, and…

How to Build a Wooden Phone Amplifier and Charging Station

November 14, 2017 By Paul Mayer & filed under Last Minute Woodworking Gifts, Plans and Projects, Woodworking Plans, Woodworking Projects.

If you like to play music on your cell phone you’ll find lots to love about this wooden phone amplifier. It provides an attractive platform to cradle your phone while playing music, and it boosts the sounds level by 8-10 dB (decibels) while also distributing the sound around the room using a megaphone style sound…

Must-Have Woodworking Apps for Your iPhone Pt. 1

October 21, 2017 By Paul Mayer & filed under Blog, Buying Advice, Tool Education.

In the earliest days of woodworking (or even just a few years ago for that matter), who would have ever thought that we would be talking about how to best utilize our telephones in the woodworking shop? Well, times they certainly are a changin’, and smart phones are capable of performing tasks that we would…

Laguna 1412 Bandsaw: A Cut Above

October 9, 2017 By Paul Mayer & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

I’m not the most patient soul, but after a long search for a band saw upgrade I finally found the one that I wanted; the Laguna 1412 Band Saw. The problem lied in the fact that it was still in prototype phase when I learned about it, and would not ship for another year. Could…