- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 23820
Working with small parts can be one of the most dangerous things in woodworking. The problem is, that sometimes these little parts will eject out of your hand or pliers, and when they do, the pressure of your hand and arm can result in injury with a saw blade, router bit or even a belt or disc sander.
Easily the best way to handle small parts if from a bit of a distance and with a jig that supports them firmly and keeps your hands and limbs away from the cutting surfaces.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/oIgEG8wViaU
To make this jig I used some bits of off-cut wood that was laying around the shop ... I made mine 17 inches long and 2 1/2 inches high with 3/4 inch lumber. The end cap was 5 inches wide ...
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 42144
Trim routers or Hand Routers as they are also called have much less power than their larger, more powerful counterparts, so finding jobs for them to do that doesn't over-tax the motor is a bit more of a challenge. In this video, I am sticking with what their routers were designed for and that is trimming edges. The difference with the jig that I am making is that the base will be larger and more stable than the base that comes with the router, therefore a better chance of getting a good cut ...
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/F4V57ePSQEI
And with the fence guide, it means I can use any 1/4 inch shank edge treatment bit, either with or without a bearing, which is a huge advantage.
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 12226
Jigs in woodworking can help us accomplish a lot of different things but some jigs can be improved upon, but the improvements aren't alway obvious unless you have used the jig for a time and I am going to tackle 2 of those jigs in this episode.
Drill Press Magswitch Fence Modification
The first and one of the handiest jigs I have is the Magswitch fence for my drill press. This is easily the best fence system I have ever made for my drill press, it's quick, easy and not complicated and can be taken of in a heart beat. I can't say enough about this jig.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/4krLJWELogQ
The first version of this jig works well, but I didn't think about one thing, and that was that I really like to use a 3/4 inch thick backer board on my drill press which in this case also happens to be the height of the magswich fence so doesn't work the way it could. I like to use the 3/4 inch backer board to help prevent the drill bits from bumping into the metal base and making them duller quicker, and because using a backer board helps to reduce tear-out on boards being drill ... well, sometimes it does ...
- Read Time: 4 mins
- Hits: 18147
For many, many years there has been a long-held belief that Zero Clearance Table Saw Throat Plates give better quality cuts on the underside of the material being cut than non-zero clearance throat plates, and I too, have been a perpetrator of this theory. Many Years ago, before carbide tipped tables became popular and we were still using steel blades, I tested this theory and ... yes, zero clearance inserts did improve the cut.
For some reason, lately, I wondered that with the much better quality of saw blades if this theory is still true or not so I decided to try out a few of the blades I have and see if do cut better with zero clearance or not.
Watch it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/h7PpHpZyhKA
I started off by trying some of my crosscut blades on some very dry, fine grain fir. I Set up my table saw first with a Freud 90 tooth cross cut blade and with the zero clearance insert I had made and made my first cut .. they replace the zero clearance insert with the factory non-zero clearance insert and made the second cut ...