Woodsmith

The light from my garage shop is especially inviting during this darker season of the year. Now that the holiday gift rush is over, it’s time to focus on the next set of projects — and maybe explore a different branch of the woodworking tree. I’ve be

The miter saw is my main cross-cutter, but making small adjustments on the piece being cut isn’t easy. The stop you see here was my answer. Since clamping a stop block to the fence is difficult on short pieces, the stop is long and attached to a plyw

Any seasoned carpenter will tell you, installing crown molding is anything but a routine task. Unlike most moldings, which are attached flat to the wall, crown molding rests at an angle between the ceiling and wall. Because it “leans” at an angle, wo

The band saw is one of the most versatile power tools in any shop. From pattern cutting to resawing to joinery, it’s capable of jobs across the spectrum. The thin kerf of a band saw blade means less waste compared to a table saw or miter saw, and the

Every table saw comes with two mandatory accessories — a rip fence and a miter gauge. Out of the crate both items address a basic function. The rip fence guides material through the saw blade with the direction of the grain, while the miter gauge hol

Marbles are one of the oldest toys known to humanity. The earliest are estimated to have been made in 2500 BCE, and writings from the Roman empire show us that Roman children played with them much like kids might today. Of course, a modern child has

Woodworking is always a fun endeavor, and when you come across a project like you see here, there are bonus points for variety. Which reminds me of another old saying, “variety is the spice of life.” That adage came to mind often when dealing with an

It all starts with a purchase — a router. Then come the bits. Oh my, the bits. Very quickly, you can see the trouble. Where do you keep them? Don’t forget the other gear: spare collets, wrenches, guide bushings ... the list goes on. What you need is

The work of designing shop projects, drawings, and creative paintings since the advent of the digital world has been a dazzling adventure, to say the least. And in many ways rightly so — the ‘undo’ feature that is available in all creative software p

There are times when you just need one more table. Whether you’re hosting family for a holiday or getting ready for a weekly game of poker in the garage, it’s nice to have something you can set up quick and put away at the end of the day without hass

Routers require bits. I use this obvious statement because routers are often (and rightly) recommended as an essential tool for furniture making. Without talking about the bits though new woodworkers don’t have much to go on. When you combine the ran