Getting the Most from Cheap Tools

Read Time: 12 mins

Hits: 8671

There is nothing more frustrating than once you begin to get confident with woodworking tools you find that many of the tools you have are slowing you down and in some cases causing your work to un-even or off the square. Welcome to woodworking!  where not everything is as perfect as we would like it to be. One of the challenges of learning woodworking is learning about tools as we go along, and finding out that in most cases "yes" good quality tools can often save us time.

But many of us don't necessarily have funds available to just go out and buy the best quality tools so we need to figure out how to make the less expensive tools we have already purchased ... work better for us. The first step in the process is understanding that cheaper tools often require more time and effort in order to get good results from them. But there are some shortcuts along the way ...  

Subscriber Woodworking Tips and Tricks Episode 15

Read Time: 4 mins

Hits: 4983

There are many good woodworking tips and it's sometimes hard for us to remember them, but we really don't have to. Our brain will often pop that image back into our mind's eye when we encounter some sort of challenge in the workshop, and instantly, we have a solution.

Such is the case with Timothy's idea of using the blocks and a simple ratcheting tie-downs for clamping picture frames. I have used a ratcheting tie-downs in the past, but only with special cut corner brackets .. and yes they work fine, but just using the tie-downs with wooden blocks works just as well and is quicker and easier ... 

Magswitch Switchable Magnets Workholding Tips & News

Read Time: 8 mins

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Magswitches seem to have an endless number of jigs that can be adapted to them or made with them. In my shop, they have become an invaluable tool for a variety of jigs that save me a lot of time and since I work alone, they are like another pair of hands in many cases.

This tip was sent to me from John, who has figured out a way to use Magswitches in conjunction with a carpenter's square on the top of his table saw to create a large, perfectly "right angle" assembly station that can be set up and taken down in seconds.
*** Links to other articles and new fence located deeper in this article ***

Fixing Woodworking Mistakes Episode 3

Read Time: 7 mins

Hits: 6379

 Working with wood is not always an exacting science. Sometimes there are defects in the wood, both visible and hidden and once in a while, we woodworkers make innocent mistakes and most of these issues need to be fixed or corrected one way or another. Most of these fixes are not complicated, but often will take some time and patience to do a good job.

From time to time woodworkers are called upon to fix problems with wood items like furniture or other home units, that have broken, or maybe we set a tool wrong and made a bad cut ...