Wood Shop tricks

Over the years, I have come up with a few 'tricks' to make a some things easier in the workshop. I figured I'd share some of those with you.

Table saw tricks

Avoiding tearout on veneered plywood stock
Cutting a piece to the same length as another (video)
Using skillsaw blades in a table saw
Dado blade substitute
Exact width dado spacer
Table saw fence micro adjusting
Cove cutting
Eliminating miter gauge play
Contractor saw vibration dampener
Table saw moving using dollies

Bandsaw tricks

Stoning bandsaw blades
Bandsaw 'zero clearance insert'
Bandsaw resaw sled
A blade guide for resawing wide lumber on a 14" bandsaw
Cutting dovetails on the bandsaw

Planer tricks

Avoiding snipe on a cheap planer
Tapering on the jointer
Flattening wide boards
Face jointing boards wider than the jointer
Making cast iron slippery
Flip just 1 knife on a DW735 planer?

Measurement and layout tricks

Measuring holes for drawer handles
Calipers as a marking gauge
Spacing spindles evenly
Marking large arcs
Round objects to mark arcs
Angles for Splayed miter joints
Thu the floor (or wall) magnet alignment trick
Spacers to lay out drawer slides

Gluing and Joinery

Filling gaps in wood joints
Mortising on the drill press
Why I don't use a drill press table
Spread glue with a rubber spatula
Splicing wood end to end (curtain rod)
Cleaning up glue squeeze-out
Getting screws to hold in end grain
Pocket holes without a jig
Determine drill size for screw holes
Drilling oversized stock with a small drill press
Slitting dowels
Flush cutting dowels with a chisel
Flush cut with a router instead of a flush trim saw
Making perfect plugs to cover up wood defects
Fixing slipping bar clamps
Bar clamp extender
Edge clamping trick
More ergonomic bar clamp handles
Vacuum clamping on the cheap
Making wood thread taps from threaded rod or bolts
Stick felt pads to chairs with hot glue so they won't come off
Making thin dowels, no jig required
Bent lamination
Bamboo skewers as 5mm dowels

Sharpening

Resparpening drill bits
Sharpening 6" jointer knives by hand
Chainsaw sharpening with an angle grinder
Modifying router bits
Resizing a drill
Sharpening bandsaw blades
sawblade for cutting sheet metal roofing
Using more of your scrollsaw blades
Sharpening router bits

Sanding

Avoiding sanding marks with a belt sander
Ron Walter's Circle sanding jig
Dan's Thickness sander hack
Dust collection for a 6x48" belt sander

Finishing and varnishing

Softening a paintbrush that has varnish dried into it
Scraping varnish for a smoother finish
Roundovers with a hand plane
Varnishing supports
Chamfering edges

More miscellaneous tricks

Round drawer knobs, no lathe
Cutting dadoes with a handheld circular saw
Repairing broken plastic parts
Measuring wood moisture conetnt with a multimeter
Wood hardness testing
Stiffening a sagging plywood shelf
Swing arm lamp extender
Making wooden tarp clips
Pulling nails without heads / pallet recycling
Metal shearing with chisel and vise
Sheet metal bending trick, no brake
Drilling glass (video only)
Shopvac noisy bering oiling trick
flushing out a running ShopVac with water
Empyting a 1 HP dust collector without making a mess
Measure appliance power use with a utility meter
High picture hanging grabber
Sucking out eggs with a vacuum cleaner (video)
Re-greasing shielded bearings, no disassembly

More on woodworking Tools and Techniques

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