Can You Add Steel to a Sander? Watch This!
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 111
In this video I am adding a steel plate to the top of the existing plastic deck on my Ridgid Oscillating Belt and Drum Sander. I have purchased a plate of 10 gauge, mild steel and had it cut the appropriate size and now the real work begins.
I will be drilling holes large enough to accommodate the belt sanding mechanism, which will also mean all the drums will work as well on the sander. The big PLUS for me is that with this added feature to the sander I can now build and use a variety of new jigs for this sander and use Magswitch Technology instead of wood clamps to get quick, super solid positioning with all my jigs.
Ebonizing Wood Testing: Shocking Results
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 601
Working with exotic woods can be expensive ... IF they are even available. One of the solutions to this is coloring your wood to simulate an exotic wood, and to try and get the color match as close as you can, and that's what I am doing today.
I have used aniline dyes in the past to simulate Ebony wood, which is often hard to get, and the last time I checked it was in the $150+ per board foot, one of the most expensive wood, but if you want a pure black colored wood, that is what it is.2
These Simple Jigs Will Change Your Workshop!
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 973
I think jigs that can do double duty, that is help in more ways than one, are easily the most valuable jigs, and sometimes it only takes small modifications to upgrade a jig from single to multi use.
This is one of the few times that I needed to make a jig in order to make another jig. I started off with making the "wedge jig", something I have needed for a long time and have been making wedges a much harder way, when one of my subscribes sent me this idea, I thought it was simple and highly affective.
4 Shop Shortcuts Every Woodworker Should Know!
- Read Time: 2 mins
- Hits: 892
Innovation in the workshop is the cornerstone of many shops, I have seen woodworkers come up with and are still coming up with the most amazing ideas for tools and handy items in the shop
Here are some of the ideas I use in my own shop that might help give others more ideas ...
Why Your Wood Glue Projects Keep Failing!
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 969
If you enjoy woodworking, gluing wood together is an essential job, for almost all woodworking. It sounds like and easy task, but anyone who has done even moderate woodworking can tell you, gluing can be some of the most frustrating tasks you can do. The reason for this is that if it is not done correctly, for a number of things, you can end up with MUCH more work to do than you planned.
I know this from experience, and probably most experienced woodworkers can vouch for similar "learning lessons"
Create This Genius Hammer Handle From Scratch (No Lathe Needed)
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 1166
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.
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