Create This Genius Hammer Handle From Scratch (No Lathe Needed)
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 113
Making handles for woodworking tools sounds easy, but if you want to make something a bit different, AND you don't have a lathe, you are left with making "square" or similar hammer handles. I wanted to make an 8 sided hammer handle and that's a bit more work.
I started off with the hardest wood I had in my collection which happened to be Arbutus of Madrona. Typical hammer handles are made from Hickory, but I didn't have that, and the Madrona will work just fine. Hickory has a Janka Hardness scale of 1860 and Madrona is 1460 so it is a tiny bit softer, but still much harder that Red Oak, my second option.
How to Work Smarter In The Shop - Woodworking Pro Tips
- Read Time: 5 mins
- Hits: 361
I often seem to get stuck with how to solve small details in the workshop. Things like trying to drill a hole into end grain on a dowel with my drill press, sounds easy, but how do you get a nice vertical hole and hold the dowel without spinning?
Fussing around with these kinds of things can use up a lot a valuable time in the shop while accomplishing little, except learning ... which is super valuable.
5 Quick Table Saw Shortcuts
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 621
In many workshops, the table saw is the most used machine and for all it's use, there are not many things we can do to make it much easier or or more precise, but there are still a few things ....
One of the things I have learned the hard way over the years is that the more precise I can make my cuts and joints, the easier it is to put wood projects together simply because the fit better.
Clever Hidden Storage in a DIY Bookcase
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 570
A few days ago I received a memo from YouTube, "Happy 17th Birthday" it proclaimed. Wow, have I really been creating content for 17 years now and I still have so much more to do. Only last week, I forgot to charge the batteries on my wireless microphone, not problem, I can use the back-up mic.
Sadly, after looking all over for almost 30 minutes and not finding it, I came to the realization I needed to make a "Media Cabinet" to keep all my cords, cables, microphones, cameras, batteries, chargers and more all in ONE PLACE.
5 Essential Woodworking Tips Today
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 755
One of my biggest challenges in woodworking is not doing things that I have to go back later and FIX ... I hate having to re-do things because "something" went wrong ... and that something is ME ... nobody else to blame, so how can I do better??
5 Essential Woodworking Tips Today
The first thing is having equipment that works the best it can. I often don't have expense equipment and some of my limitations are the tools, but it's up to me to get them working the best they can ...
Are You Keeping Up? How Technology is Changing Woodworking
- Read Time: 5 mins
- Hits: 1032
One of the things repeating to myself (and others), over and over is ... Everything Changes, NOTHING stays the same forever, learn to adapt. This is one of the reasons I am often a bit of a pioneer in working with new technologies. For example, I made a video of using a laser for woodworking way back in March of 2016, 8 years ago when they were still in their infancy for home use, but these machines have skyrocketed in their abilities.
I toured the Frank Lloyd Wright "Allen" house in Wichita in the spring of 2024, and one of the tour guides items of note was a wooden ceiling lampshade in the living room which she described as "having been made with a jigsaw"....
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