- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 11038
One of the challenges for most of us is keeping out tools in nice shape, and among other things, that means rust free. Where I live in the more temperate climates there are seasonal and daily fluctuations in temperature and both of these, combined with the moisture in the air, are big contributors to making our tools rusting.
Combating Rust in the Workshop
Just knowing, and understanding the elements that come together to create rust are a big first step in helping us preventing rust from happening. The cause, of course, is moisture that comes in contact with bare steel and the reaction of the 2 elements is what we call rust, which is basically a corrosion that happens when the 2 come in contact with one another, but what are causes of those contacts?
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 16904
From time to time, I like to stop all jobs in the workshop to fine tune. This could mean sharpening tools or it could be repair or re-adjusting things to make them work better. Recently I had a good look at the where the Riving Knife and the Splitter are attached to my table saw. What I noticed is that in the lower part of the attachment block there appeared to be some bolts that looked like, if they were taken off, I might be able to fix the positioning and alignment of my riving knife and splitter.
Table Saw Riving Knife / Splitter Set-up and Alignment. Prevent Table Saw Kickback.
I don't use my Riving Knife very often but I DO use my splitter a lot because it helps with the dust extraction and keeps the shop cleaner and more dust free. Every time I have to take the splitter off, it annoys me that the block it sits in is out of alignment and I have to use shims in order for it to work. I paid a lot for this saw and that one thing should have worked better than it does. I should not have to use shims that fall off into the base of the saw every time I have to take the splitter off to use a table saw jig or cut vertical wood, so it's time to fix this ...
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 15150
For many years I have heard people using things like Salt and Sand as a medium between 2 boards being glued, to help eliminate the slippage that happens when we try to glue boards together. I have never used the technique but recently I have had a flurry of people asking me if the using Salt as a grit when gluing boards together, does that weaken the joint?
Strength Testing Salt and Grit on Glue Joints
It sounds plausible that it might, but it could also strength the joint ... or it might do nothing noticeable, but I will never know if I don't test it, so that's exactly what I set out to do ...
- Read Time: 3 mins
- Hits: 20022
There are always pros and cons to making things yourself in your own workshop because sometimes they are better than what you can purchase commercially and other times they are not, and often it depends on the materials being used. Commercially we don't have access to some of the material for building things, like stronger plastics and resins. All we can rely on in most cases is wood and sometimes with some sorts of metal accessories or parts.
How to Make Push Blocks for Table Saws, Router Tables and Jointers
These shop made Push Blocks are no different in terms of challenges, but in this case, although the materials may not seem as heavy duty, the end result is that they actually work much better than the commercial ones I have ...