Every year, hospitals see injuries caused by woodworking tools in the emergency room. This includes professionals and hobbyists, students and homeowners. The types of injuries vary, as there are more ways to make mistakes in a woodshop than there are ways to plan ahead for them – precisely why they’re called accidents! In 2011, the
Handmade Graduated Butterflies Are Stunning The butterflies or ‘dutchmen’ embedded in this desktop are custom sized and cut on a bandsaw. Butterflies stabilize the crack and also provide a focal point on top of the desk to highlight your woodworking skills. When making butterfly joints, I tend to avoid templates available at woodworking stores. In
Many woodworking projects require the ability to render a perfectly square edge on a board. There are many ways to perform this task, but nothing matches the performance, precision and repeatability delivered by the motorized jointer. Getting the jointer to deliver on its potential is not particularly difficult but, like most things, it requires proper
Here’s the situation: Lumberyards and hobby/hardware stores often sell lumber S2S, which means the wide surfaces are jointed and planed, but the edges are rough from the sawmill or follow the shape of the tree. Do you pass these boards up because you don’t have a jointer? If you own a router, start buying that
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
So you need to cut a few biscuit grooves but don’t own a biscuit (plate) joiner — No problem, cutting the grooves with your router and a slot-cutter bit is easy. So I’ll bet you’re wondering if it’s so easy then why even own a biscuit joiner? Well there are pros and cons: Pros: Great
This is the first of a two-part series on the biscuit joiner. This article provides instruction on using a biscuit joiner, along with advice on setting up your machine, choosing the correct size biscuits, proper gluing techniques, and more. Woodworkers know that there are many approaches to joining two pieces of wood together. The key
The problem – a poorly framed hole. I’m sure most of us have seen or used a router mounted on a pivoting board or arm to cut circles. This past spring I was handed a difficult assignment. Some one needed to mount five, 20″ diameter Tiffany glass circles in the walls of a new restaurant.
Using a Router and Template to Make Creative Designs. I would like to share some thoughts about creating repetitive designs with a router and a template. To make a template, we embrace the skills of our ancestors – the pattern makers. I am referring to the folks who carved patterns by hand, before the age
Whether you’re a seasoned woodworker, or just starting out, these router safety tips will help you work safer in your shop. I’ve been a woodworker for 30 years, and trust me… I’ve made every mistake told here at least once. Fortunately, other than bruised pride and wasting some wood, I haven’t been hurt. Keep yourself
