What have you made lately?

Accesories

Retractable casters mounted to Dewalt scroll saw stand — It seems that lots of people have come up with solutions for making their scroll saw mobile so I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. I recently purchased a Dewalt 788 scroll saw with the base and work light (BTW, Grizzly has a pretty good deal on this package) and I quickly realized […]

Retractable Casters for Scroll Saw Stand

This entry was posted in Accesories Solutions on September 8, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Side-by-side comparison of Milwaukee and Ryobi adapters — More than once I’ve found myself in a situation where I needed to drill a hole or insert a screw in a hard-to-reach location but lacked the technology to easily accomplish the task in a satisfactory manner. Typically, these are situations where there is insufficient room to position the drill directly over the hole so I usually resort to […]

Milwaukee and Ryobi Angled Drill Adapters

This entry was posted in Accesories Tools on May 27, 2016 by Bill Kovalick

Side view of install vise — Can you imagine not having a vise on your workbench? Me neither. Yet, somehow I scraped by for many years before finally installing one and now I can’t imagine not having it. I bought a Jorgensen model 41012 vise from a fellow woodworker who bought it some years ago but never got around to installing it. It […]

Installing a Front-Mounted Workbench Vise

This entry was posted in Accesories on April 8, 2015 by Bill Kovalick

Woodshop storage cabinet — For a number of years, I stored screws, bolts, and nails in a corner of my shop using a bunch of plastic bins mounted on horizontal plastic rails. This worked well enough in that the hardware was always close at hand but I got tired of all the dust that eventually coated everything. Not only […]

Woodshop Storage Cabinet

This entry was posted in Accesories Projects on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Step 2: cut half piece of sandpaper in half — The 1-2 method Here’s a simple jig for cutting 9″ x 11″ sheets of sandpaper into fourths for use with a 1/4 sheet palm sander. It makes quick work out of a potentially tedious task thanks to two spacer blocks: one for cutting the sandpaper in half and another for cutting the halves in half […]

Sandpaper Cutting Jig

This entry was posted in Accesories Projects on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Homemade leg leveler — What to do when you need to level a woodshop table but don’t have any levelers handy? You make them from scratch. That was the situation I found myself in when I built a new outfeed table for my table saw. Because my shop floor was not quite level (are they ever?), I needed a […]

DIY Woodshop Leg Levelers

This entry was posted in Accesories Projects on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Flip top tool stand — This is a project that got away from me. I started out to build a roll-around stand for a portable Delta planer. Nothing fancy, just a wooden box on wheels with the planer bolted to the top. Then I decided to add a swivel capability to the top so the planer could be flipped up […]

Flip Top Tool Stand / Outfeed Table

This entry was posted in Accesories Projects on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Poplar step stool with anti-tip bars — This step stool was built to replace an older model that was starting to show its age. It’s made from yellow poplar and features retractable anti-tip bars that slide out when needed and slide back in for more compact storage. The basic design of the stool came from a plan that is available as a […]

Step Stool

This entry was posted in Accesories Projects on December 23, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

My collection of push sticks and push blocks — If you’re fond of all your fingers, a good way to help keep them is by using a push stick or push block. This is especially pertinent when milling small pieces on the table saw and jointer but also applies to the router table, shaper, and band saw. A push stick keeps your precious body […]

Push Sticks and Push Blocks – You Can Never Have ...

This entry was posted in Accesories Safety on December 14, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Retainer ring came loose on this flipper bit — Quick change flip drill driver bits are handy little gadgets that combine a drill/countersink and screw driver into one compact unit. They can save lots of time because there’s no hunting around for separate bits or drivers. Another convenience is that only a single drill is needed. I think they’re here to stay. The way […]

Quick Change Flip Drill Driver Bits

This entry was posted in Accesories Fasteners on November 28, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Assortment of squares — Before one can cut, one must layout. That should be every woodworker’s mantra. And to that end, here is a list of recommended layout tools that should be sufficient to tackle most any woodworking layout task. Tape measure In my humble opinion, the tape measure ranks right up there with the wheel and fire as […]

Woodworking Layout Tools

This entry was posted in Accesories Joinery on November 26, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Magna-Set alignment — When it’s time to adjust the knives in my jointer I usually use a device called the Magna-Set. The idea behind this gizmo is two parallel magnetic bars that attach to the outfeed table and protrude over the jointer knives. With a knife positioned at the top of its cutting arc, that is, top dead […]

Adjusting Jointer Knives With the Magna-Set

This entry was posted in Accesories Tools on November 22, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

4-way equal pressure clamp — Like most woodworkers, I have accumulated quite an assortment of woodworking clamps over the years. As someone once said, you can never have too many clamps. Of course, I love, er… I mean like some of my clamps more than others… The clamps I use most often are trigger-action mini bar clamps. They’re lightweight, adjust […]

Clamps I Have Known (and Loved ??)

This entry was posted in Accesories Tools on September 30, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Sanding with bench cookies — Looking to “fill out” an order of woodworking supplies, I decided to buy a four pack of bench cookies. I was somewhat skeptical of these relative newcomers to the woodworking scene, but for 12 bucks, how could I go wrong? I figured I could always use them as drink coasters if they didn’t perform well […]

Bench Cookies – Not Too Crumby

This entry was posted in Accesories Finishing on September 30, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Woodshop air filtration unit — Dust is not our friend. It coats our tools, work surfaces, and worst of all, our lungs. Centralized dust collection systems do a good job of removing wood chips, chunks, shavings, and larger dust particles but you need something more to remove the fine airborne dust particles. That’s where an air filtration device comes in. […]

Roll Around Woodshop Air Filtration System

This entry was posted in Accesories on September 9, 2014 by Bill Kovalick

Choosing the right saw blade for a cutting task can mean the difference between misery and glory. If you’ve ever tried to rip a piece of 4/4 oak with a saw blade that’s not designed for ripping, or tried making a cross-cut on a piece of plywood with a rip blade you know what I’m […]

Choosing a Saw Blade

This entry was posted in Accesories Safety Tools on July 6, 2014 by Bill Kovalick