Subtract color to add life. There are four types of bleach that woodworkers commonly use: chlorine, two-part wood bleach, oxalic acid and peroxide. Two-part bleach changes the actual color of wood and the other three remove stains. Read on to …

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This honing stone setup is part of my dedicated sharpening station. It consists of a plastic tray mounted in a plywood carrier box that also provides solid footing for a wooden stone holder that bridges the box. The unit is …

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A micro-Adjust fence is the perfect accessory for making grooves, mortises, or other milling operations using a hand-held router. It allows you to precisely adjust the distance between the bit and the fence. This device operates in two steps. First, …

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I make my own zero-clearance throat plates for my table saw to minimize exit tear-out on workpieces and to prevent narrow pieces from dropping into the saw. When raising the blade through the insert blank for the first time (using …

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The traditional way to make a square finial on a bandsaw is to mark and cut the pattern on one side of the blank, then tape the offcut back on in order to guide the cuts on the adjacent side. …

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I like to augment tabletops and drawer fronts with decorative banding, inlaying it around the perimeter. The problem has always been the fussy trimming of the mitered corners. It’s hard to cut the miters perfectly using a chisel freehand while …

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Crouching to operate my compressor’s drain valve was no big deal until my football-ravaged knees started acting up. To keep from grimacing in the sawdust, I devised a more civilized way to clear the tank. I replaced the drain value …

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I got tired of jury-rigging extra light for finishing, so I built this light stand from a 4‘ length of 2“ x 2“ and 1/4“ plywood. The 6“ x 17“ legs include …

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A router can be one of the most versatile tools in your shop. We've brought together a few of our favorite tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your router.

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I hated the black hole that appeared when I installed corner bifold doors in my kitchen cabinets. To get rid of this annoying gap, I decided to make the main door (the one with the hinges) 3/4-in. wider, so it …

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My workbench is beautiful and I want to keep it that way, so I cover the top with builder’s paper whenever I’m gluing or staining. But the heavy roll was hard to handle and a nuisance to store until I …

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Six great ideas for space-challenged woodworkers to get more out of their small shops.

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Here’s a no-frills, adjustable block for making stopped cuts. Cut three pieces of 3/4″ plywood sized to fit your tablesaw’s rip fence. Install a T-nut in one of the side pieces before assembly.  Thread a short piece of threaded rod …

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Manhandling sheets of plywood or MDF around the shop is cumbersome. This simple support stand serves as a helper to make lifting and positioning the sheet easier.

When I built my miter station, I used simple hardware to make the table of the mitersaw flush with the adjacent bench surfaces.

Wedges came in handy when I needed a jig to repeatedly cut accurately positioned mortises in table legs using my CNC router.

My tablesaw sled sees a lot of use, but I was always a little nervous securing the workpiece with my hands during the cut.

The “Multi-Drawer Storage Center” in issue 287 (March 2023) reminded me of the one I inherited from my dad and still use. It features integral pulls that he turned into the fronts of the small drawers.

Basted, not Wasted: When I need a small amount of paint or finish from a can, I don’t pour it into another container.

This adjustable jig makes it easy to rout consistently positioned juice grooves in the cutting boards I build. It’s made up of MDF rails that guide the router, scrapwood spacers to set the groove position, and a set of corner clamps to hold it together.