Router Feed Direction I made a typical mistake and used a hand router to route in the wrong direction. The router moved away from my straight edge and curved through the wood. Generally, when hand routing, you want to move from left to right, so that means counter clockwise on the outside edge and clockwise on an inside […]
Waterfall Miter Joint: dowels or floating tenons When looking to miter two long pieces together for a TV stand, it seems the popular option is a spline for strength (which also gives a nice look with a contrasting spline material). However, since I don’t have a table saw I looked for other options. (I did see some people make jigs to use […]
Woodworking Shop Vac Buying Guide Don’t choose a shop vac based on the Horsepower rating alone. Horsepower can be gamed to sound more powerful than it is. You can only get 2HP from a normal household 110 volt outlet. The higher ratings printed on the box are for peak draw in some perfect conditions at the manufacturers facility. Make sure […]
Black Friday 2020 Power Tools There’s some great deals currently on combo tool sets and other items. Remember to check camelcamelcamel.com for price changes to see how the price compares to past prices. A great starter miter saw is the Dewalt DWS715 which is on sale at Amazon right now for $199 (finally back down from $235 or more). There’s […]
Saw Blade Hook Angle Table saws blades have a positive hook angle (or rake angle) as this pulls the wood towards the blade and down onto the table. The forward leaning teeth pull down on the wood and keep it against the table. In contrast to a miter saw, which benefits from a negative rake angle, as it pushes […]
Circular Saw Shoe and Guard Material Circular saws have a number of different materials for both the shoe and the guard. The differences vary the weight, strength and cost of the guard and shoe. Many budget saws use steel shoes which can bend if dropped. More expensive circular saws use aluminum or magnesium for the shoe. The magnesium shoes are light […]
