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World's Best Routing Guide
by American Woodworker Editors Thursday, November 19, 2009
This simple guide guarantees success whenever you need to make a straight routing pass. It’s perfect for jointing a long edge or routing dadoes and grooves. You’ll get smooth, chatter-free results, thanks to the guide’s firm support...
9 Ways To Untangle The Mess
by American Woodworker Editors Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Electric spaghetti. That’s what most of us have lurking behind our computer desks and entertainment centers. Every time you want to add or take out a component, unsnarling that mess can be a real nightmare. There’s a term for the solution...
10 Things You Need to Know About Plastic Lumber
by American Woodworker Editors Tuesday, November 10, 2009
by Brad Holden No, we haven’t changed our name to American Plasticworker. I love wood, with all its beautiful textures, figures and smells. But I also enjoy experimenting with different materials. So I decided to try some of the plastic lumber available...
7 Trim Router Tips
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, November 9, 2009
Multiple bases make this compact router extremely versatile. by Randy Johnson Laminate trim routers are amazing little machines. Their light weight and compact size make them exceptionally easy to use. Although they are designed primarily for trimming...
Soft Landing
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, November 9, 2009
I installed the AW router lift in my router table. The lift works great, but opening and closing my old table’s heavy top made me nervous. To keep it from slamming unexpectedly and smashing my fingers, I installed a medium-duty screen-door closer...
Right-Angle Guide for Jointing
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, November 9, 2009
Planing the edge of a long board perpendicular to its face is a real challenge. To make the job easier, I built a guide that attaches to the side of my plane with rare earth magnets. Now jointing an edge is much easier. I simply alter my grip to take...
Benchtop Board Clamp
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, November 9, 2009
My father showed me this “bird’s mouth” jig almost 60 years ago. It securely clamps 1/4- to 3-in.-thick boards on edge. It’s so useful that I’ve never bothered to add a vise to my workbench. I’ve been tempted to mount...
Capture Tablesaw Dust
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, November 9, 2009
My contractor-style tablesaw spewed sawdust everywhere until I enclosed the base by covering all the openings with 1/4-in. MDF panels. First, I added two aluminum angle rails so the collection box slopes toward the dust port in the back panel. Then I...
7 Tips for Better Drum Sanding
by American Woodworker Editors Wednesday, November 4, 2009
If you hate sanding (and who doesn’t?), a drum sander can be a godsend. Just feed in your boards, or even completed doors and other projects, and out they come, perfectly sanded, flat and smooth. And for a modern cabinetmaker looking for speed,...
Tips for Using Epoxy
by American Woodworker Editors Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Epoxy is a specialty glue that does more than simply stick wood together. It also fills gaps. That makes it ideal for tackling loose joints, hard-to-clamp parts, repair work and colored inlays. Besides that impressive flexibility, it’s also useful...
Draw Huge Arches
by American Woodworker Editors Wednesday, November 4, 2009
This old boatbuilder’s trick allows you to draw large arches without using a giant compass or trammel. All you have to know is the arch’s height (also called its rise) and length (its run). You don’t need a center point. I like the long...
Vertical Panel-Rising Jig
by American Woodworker Editors Wednesday, November 4, 2009
I always get great results when I use this tall fence for making raised-panel doors. It has a built-in dust collection port and a pressure bar that holds the panel firmly against the fence. I keep the bar’s front edge waxed, so panels slide smoothly...
A Better Jointer Fence
by American Woodworker Editors Tuesday, November 3, 2009
In our last issue (AW #114, May 2005), we published a workshop tip titled “Right-Angle Guide for Jointing.” In this tip, a reader suggested a way to steady a hand plane by attaching a wooden fence to its side, with the fence being held to...
$2 Mallet
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, October 26, 2009
My favorite chisel whacker comes from my hardware store’s plumbing department. It’s two pieces of malleable black pipe (not cast iron), a nipple and a reducing coupler, wrapped with a bicycle inner tube for a comfortable grip. It costs $2...
Practical Paraffin
by American Woodworker Editors Monday, October 26, 2009
Ordinary paraffin canning wax has dozens of uses in my shop. It’s cheap at $2 a pound, available at any grocery store and easy to cut into small chunks. Unlike candle wax, which often contains beeswax, or some spray lubricants, which may have silicone...

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