WoodWorkWeb - Woodworking Community

5 Quick Table Saw Hacks Part 3 / Woodworking Tips and Tricks

Read Time: 4 mins

I don't always need to make permanent jigs or adaptions to my table saw, sometimes I only need something for a one-time cut. There are many ways of making adaptions so that think wedges of wood will not fall through or get caught between the blade and the insert. One way, if you have a fence suitable is to find yourself an very thin, like 1/8th thick plywood off-cut and slide it under the fence and lock the fence. This will prevent the plywood from moving. Now you can wind the table saw blade up through the plywood and now instantly have adapted a zero clearance insert ... but on TOP of you existing insert.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/VcodNMiNNac

Now you can run the wood through that you want. In order for this to work, you need to know where to position the fence so you will need to mark or adapt it, but there is also another way, similar, but more adaptable especially for those who don't have bigger cabinet type saws ...

Buying Wood from the Lumber Yard: Money Saving Hacks for Woodworking Part 4

Read Time: 4 mins

There are a variety of ways we can all save money when purchasing lumber from the wood store, and any wood store I have dealt with is interested in trying to get you the best value for your money, because they know if they help you save money buying wood, you will be back, again and again, to deal with them so don't discount their help. If you are new to buying wood or new to the wood store the first thing to do is talk to someone at the store, tell them what you are doing and what you are looking for and ASK them for their suggestions ...

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/9VlmdpLSHlE

They might have specials or perhaps they have wood stored in another area that could be part of what you are looking for. It is not unusual for wood stores to have the same species of wood stored in different areas for a variety of reasons, the most common ... being price.

How to Make Finger Joints: Finger Joint Router Bits

Read Time: 4 mins

I have never had a chance to use a finger joint bit on the router, and since I picked one up some time ago, I would like to know how it works. It was on special at a tool store I deal with and being sold "as is" because the box was open and of course there were no instructions with it, and I don't even know if it even comes with instructions, or like most router bits you figure it out on your own. The one I got was the Freud Finger joint #99-037 I had it in my mind that this must be a simple bit to use so my first idea was to have 2 pieces of wood of exactly the same width and run them through the bit one face up, the other face down and see what that would do.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hrxftlIpqBI

Well ... as it turns out, nope, that wasn't how this bit worked, then I wondered if it was the height that I had the bit at, maybe that had something to do with it so I raised the bit slightly to expose more of the base ...

Table Saw Inserts: Tear-Out Test on Natural Woods!

Read Time: 5 mins

A short time ago, I made a video to see if using a Zero Clearance Insert in a table saw would give cleaner cuts with less tear out than a non-zero clearance insert. The results that I came up with using double sided melamine doing this test, was clear that making and using zero clearance inserts made no difference to the quality of the cuts. That test used double sided melamine as the cutting medium and many people wondered if there would be a difference if I ran the same test, but this time using natural wood or even plywood. I was not sure if the results would be different, but I suspected they would be very similar to the melamine tests, but that was a guess and the only real way of knowing is to run the test.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/38pU_LVtfb4

I decided to use three different kinds of wood for this test, Oak, Pine and a good, cabinet quality 3/4" plywood. I would to both a ripping and a cross-cutting test on all these wood with both zero clearance and non-zero clearance throat plates then compare the differences ...

5 Quick Cordless Drill Hacks - Woodworking Tips and Tricks

Read Time: 5 mins

I can't believe how many cordless drills and drill drivers I gone through in the past 10 years. Would you believe 6. But in fairness, I still have 3 of them so that helps ease the pain. I guess what this tells me is that I do use my cordless drills a LOT. I know with some of my last pairs that only had one battery, when that battery was low or dead, it really constricted my woodworking so that also tells me how valuable drills and drill drivers are ... no wonder there are so many tips and tricks and accessories for the humble but irreplaceable cordless drill.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2YCcwFohdVE

And what has made these drills even more valuable is invention of the Lithium batteries that have so many advantages over the old NiCad batteries, they disappeared almost overnight ...

Buying Lumber Direct From the Sawmill - Money Saving Hacks for Woodworking Part 3

Read Time: 9 mins

Buying wood directly from a mill is not something everyone can do, even if you have sawmills in your vicinity, but it is available for many woodworkers and for those who belong to clubs and associations, it's even possible to get together and do "group purchases". Not all mills will sell to the general public, Often the large sawmills are wholesale only, but many of medium and smaller independent mills are happy to sell smaller quantities of wood. Do NOT show up at a mill and expect to buy one or 2 boards. These people make their living selling volumes, and just the way they store and stack their wood, it's not really an option for them in most cases. When you do show up at a mill, they will ask you that right away ... "How much wood are you looking for?" So you will need to be prepared with an answer in either board feet, or a number of boards, truckload, 1/2 truckload etc.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/FCqAHAcevCk

There are basically 3 sizes of mills, Small, Medium and Large. Small mills are normally one person operations, often part-time and they will have a small gas driven, probably portable bandsaw mill. Medium size mills may have a larger circular saw and/or a bandsaw and probably operate full time or at least season full time. Large mills will often have a multitude of saws and will be driving truckloads of lumber through their mill on a full-time basis. They probably will also have a kiln to dry the wood they are cutting and often these do not sell to the public, but you can still ask them, some do ...

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