Tricks of the Trade
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Cutting Board Routing Sled
It can be hard to safely control narrow workpieces, but a simple sled like this, with toggle clamps mounted to a scrap fence, gives you the added stability needed.
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Add a Fence to Your Miter Gauge
Chris Marshall lays out the reasons why adding a simple, longer fence to your miter gauge will help you make better cuts on a table saw.
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Make Cleaning a Shop Vac Easier
Those pleated filters that come with shop vacuums plug up with debris quickly, and cleaning them is a dusty mess. This reader has a solution.
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Breaking Fresh Glue Joints
This reader needed to make adjustments to some joints during glue-up. He found a quick way to get the pieces apart without damaging the joint, and you probably already have the solution in your shop.
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Options for Breaking Edges
Softening the edges of your projects can make them both aesthetically more pleasing and less likely to splinter. Chris Marshall explains and offers advice on how best to break edges in this video.
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Dual-Bar Crosscut Fence Jig
Table saw miter gauges are OK for crosscutting short workpieces, but they aren’t stable for long stock — as designed, they cantilever bad.
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Shop-made Iron-on Edge Banding
Iron-on edge banding is easy to make. This reader offers his trick for creating your own edge banding in your workshop.
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How to Cut Plexiglass Without Chipping
This tip will help you easily cut plexiglass with no chips or breaks. Plexiglass can be tricky to cut on a table saw.
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Adding a Staging Shelf to Your Miter Saw Station
This reader offers a helpful tip about how to keep project parts close at hand but not in the way when you’re working at a home-built miter saw station.
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Making Draining an Air Compressor Cleaner
This reader was tired of his air compressor spilling rusty, dirty water onto his shop floor every time he opened the valve. Here is his easy to implement solution.
