Gifts for Woodworkers
- Read Time: 5 mins
- Hits: 6830
This video could also have been named "Colin's List of Favorite Tools" because all the tools I show here are tools that I love to use, not that there are not lots of others, but for tools that fall in the "gift" category, this was the most likely bunch of candidates.
So let me start of with the least expensive and easily the most used tool in my work shop, the lowly tape measure. As you can see in the video I have a box full of tape measures but the only one I ever use is the LEFT hand tapes that I got from Lee Valley. They are small, easy to read and inexpensive at around $6.00 As you can see on the video, for all of us right-handers, having a tape that we can read the number the right way up when we hold a pencil in our left hand, to me ... is very important. I still make mistakes in measuring but I can honestly say they are MUCH fewer now that I don't have to try and read numbers up-side-down. This is a no-brainer for me.
The next 2 items are also available at Lee Valley, the first is a steel engineers square. I use this nearly as much as the tape measures. I also have one of the fancy (expensive) wood and steel squares, but I discovered that depending on the moisture level - it's not always accurate, because of the small amount of wood movement. I want a square the is accurate ALL THE TIME and these engineers ...
Using a Doweling Jig
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 25897
I love it when there are pleasant surprises in woodworking. Thanks to a few of our subscribers who have asked about using doweling jigs after a number of videos we released on using pocket hole jigs. Pocket hole jigs are great but, but there are alternatives. Not everyone loves pocket hole technology ... for a few reasons:
1) it leaves visible holes (that can often be placed in the back or underside of the build, or they can be "plugged")
2) on rare occasion the screws will crack the wood
3) it can be difficult to match the plugs colors to the main wood.
There are also advantages to pocket holes, like ... you can take the project apart to repair, rebuild or re-use. The alternative to pocket hole technology is doweling, which has been around in one form or another for, well ... hundreds of years, and it works as well now as it did then.
There are 2 main advantages of doweling technology
1) joints can be completely hidden within the wood
2) the strength of the dowels is every bit equal or exceeding pocket hole or in many cases even mortise and tenon type technology.
I thought it was high time I got up to speed on doweling jigs.
As a bit of a newcomer to doweling technology, and after un-packaging my Dowelmax jig, I was very impressed by the quality of the jig. The number of well thought out accessories and add-on components was also impressive. It did take me a bit of practice to really understand how the jig worked but once I got on to it, with each joint I made, the jig continued to impress me ... what a pleasant surprise ...
Knife Making - Shop Tour of Terrier Blade Knife Maker
- Read Time: 5 mins
- Hits: 5817
Having a desire to make something and knowing how to go about it can be quite and experience. I have often looked at custom knives in awe and amazement with what can be done but have never ventured into the knife making world.
Recently I met someone who is an artist and craftsman when it comes to making knives and all you have to do is look at his work to see why. Peter Demmer is a Canadian knife maker who has brought his European Craftsman skills to the art of knife making. Peter makes all sorts of knives from custom Chef Carving Knives, to hunting, fishing and survival knives and even to everyday utility type knives, you can see more here www.terrierblades.com
Recently I invited myself to his workshop to make a video for our viewers on the art of custom knife making and Peter walked us through the entire process from beginning to end.
He started off by showing me how the shape of the steel is cut with a high-speed water jet tool, to create the basic shape of the blade and handle. The material he uses is special stainless steel that he purchase in large sheets. Once the basic shape of the knife is set out, the next step is to temper the steel which requires a special technique ...
Air Nailers for Woodworkers
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 7951
There have always been some sort of mechanical fasteners in woodwork shops, but since the invention of the compressor, air nailers have become increasingly popular, and for good reason. They come in so many different sizes and with so many different lengths of pins or nails available, it's easy to see how they can be a woodworkers best helper.
I see them used often for making jigs and for temporary clamps when gluing smaller pieces together, they are quick easy and in many cases the pins or nails can be hidden used in such a way that they don't affect the look of the piece.
For our video we were delighted to be provided with a couple of great air nailers from tacwise.They even provided us with a very cool stapler that we will review at the end of this article. Thanks Tacwise!!
We won't cover every size here, but we will give an overview of some of the most popular sizes for woodworking ...
Make an Entry Way Table
- Read Time: 8 mins
- Hits: 17685
Pocket hole joinery is nothing new, it's been around for many years and still remains a strong, viable option for creating all sorts of woodworking projects. It's very versatile and can be used from everything from jig making to custom furniture making. One of it's greatest assets is the fact that you can disassemble pocket hole joinery in order for fix or modify it and put it back together easily. After the holes are drilled, assembly can be very quick because it's a simple matter of using the special wide head screws to put things together.
In our case we are making an entry way table and part one is making the legs and frame. The wood we are using is kiln dried red alder, a super wood to work with, easy on the tools, hard enough to make fine furniture, and takes most finishes with ease.
The first step in making anything is to determine sizes, and for our project we elected to use square legs 1.5" square by 32" high. The apron for the table would be 5.5" wide and other than the legs and some drawer parts, everything else would be 3/4" material. The lower stretchers for the table would be 2" high, enough to support a small shelf.
The drawers are veneered on the front to match a veneering that will be happening on the table top.
And of course the last component is to put a top on this carcass and so we decided to laminate a veneer on to MDF and then add some natural wood edges to really make it "pop" and this is what our finished table looks like.
Buying Cheap Power Tools
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 8710
We would all love to have an unlimited budget to purchase any and all power tools we need for woodworking, and of the very best quality available ... sadly, not everyone can afford this, but there is hope.
All over the planet there are shops, stores and on-line dealers selling inexpensive power tools in every possible shape, color and configuration. The question is ... which ones can you buy that you will get some amount of service out of?
The good news with inexpensive power tools is that they all have many things in common with one another and there are ways of utilizing these tools and getting value from them. In our YouTube video we outline many of these details, but there is more ...
Power tools come in 2 versions ... corded, where you plug them into the wall and battery operated, where the tool comes with at least one battery. As consumers, we need to make all sorts of choices and the first choice we need to make when purchasing any power tool, is to determine how much and how often it will be use, this is the first key in selecting power tools ...
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