Heavy-Duty Push Block

Push blocks are essential safety tools for your table saw. But some push blocks are so wimpy, I wonder if they're all that much safer than no block.

Well, that won't be a problem with this push block. Phil Huber, at Woodsmith, made a sturdy push block that keeps hands well above the blade. And the wide body of the block pushes the workpiece on both sides of the saw blade.
For extra blade clearance, the thick body of the push block is glued up from two pieces of scrap. At the back, he screwed a ¼″ hardboard heel to catch the end of a board and push it through the blade, like you see in the photo.
An ordinary steel utility handle gives me a firm grip on the block. Once the bottom and the heel of the push block get chewed up, you can easily remove the handle and make a new block.
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Invisible Scratch Repairs

Scratches happen. That's wood for you. But unless they're really bad, they can be fixed well enough to become invisible. Ted Raife, at Woodsmith Magazine, uses this technique which he shared with the Woodsmith Weekly E-Tip subscribers a while ago.
"My repair system started with an investment in an assortment of touch-up markers. You can get these from many woodworking and finishing supply companies. My set includes about a dozen different colors and this gives me a good shot at finding a close match to the project. But the trick is finding the best color match without relying on a lucky guess."
"To help make a more informed choice, I created a sample sheet on a piece of clear acetate. The sheet contains a small, labeled swatch from each marker. As you see in the photo, I simply hold the sheet up to the project to find a good match. After choosing a marker and performing a quick touchup, the project looks as good as new and I feel a whole lot better."

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Sometimes, the Smallest Change...

...can make a huge difference. About the only thing I don't like about my table saw is changing the blade. A couple weeks ago, Ted Raife, an editor at Woodsmith Magazine, posted a solution to my problem in the Woodsmith Weekly E-Tip. Here it is:
"When changing table saw blades, I try hard to avoid scraping my knuckles on the blade when removing and reinstalling the arbor nut. A very minor modification I made to my arbor wrench helps.
The photo shows this simple alteration. I put a slight bend in the wrench near the arbor nut hole. This makes it easier to slip the wrench over the arbor nut while keeping my fingers out of harms way.
Bending the wrench isn’t difficult. I just clamped the end in a vise and applied a little force. And I've definitely seen a good return on this small investment."

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Waste Not, Want Not

When I saw the old, gas barbecue grill that my neighbor had thrown away, it gave me an idea. The metal frame of the grill would make a perfect roll-around tool stand for my miter saw.
All I had to do was remove the tank and grill, paint the metal frame, and then build a couple of table supports.
The miter saw is mounted to a 3/4" plywood base that’s bolted to the frame. Two open-ended boxes serve as the table supports. (Just be sure they’re flush with the surface of the miter saw table.) I even added a pull-out bin to hold short cut-off pieces.
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Adjustable Bench Stop

For years, I relied on a simple board clamped to the end of my workbench to keep a workpiece in place whenever I had to smooth it with a hand plane or belt sander. But I finally grew tired of the hassle of positioning and clamping the stop every time it was needed--I wanted a more convenient solution. And Ted Raife at Woodsmith Magazine had one.
The adjustable end stop you see in the drawings (click drawings for larger view) shows his solution. The stop has a pair of angled slots intersected by a series of stepped vertical slots. Gently tightened lag screws allow easy adjustment of the stop to the correct height by positioning it in the appropriate set of vertical slots. Or you can drop the stop below the surface of the benchtop, as also shown.
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[Thanks Ted]

Tip for Centering Clamping Pressure

If you use pipe clamps to glue up a solid-wood panel, it's important that the clamping pressure is centered on the thickness of the panel. If it isn't, you'll end up with a buckled panel. What I do to center clamping pressure is fit a dowel that's the same diameter as the thickness of the panel between the clamp jaws and the panel (see Photo). The dowel redistributes the clamping pressure so it's centered on the workpiece. The result is a perfectly flat, glued-up panel.
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Crosscutting Bowed Boards

When it comes to crosscutting a board to length, I really appreciate my sliding compound miter saw. But cutting a bowed board always made me a bit nervous, at least until recently.
That's because a bowed board often rocks back and forth on the saw table, so it's hard to make a controlled cut. Worse yet, the workpiece can pinch against the sides of the blade as you make a cut, causing a dangerous kickback. Fortunately, there's a simple trick that will help reduce the chance of this happening.
Start by placing the board on the saw table so the bow faces up (Detail a). Then make a couple of shallow passes (about a 1/4" deep), overlapping them to form one wide kerf. Now make a full-depth cut all the way through the board (Detail b).

As the saw blade cuts completely through, the board will "settle" a bit so it sits flat on the saw table. But it won't pinch the sides of the blade. The wide kerf provides the extra clearance that's needed to prevent the blade from binding. The end result is a safe, controlled cut.

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Improved Sanding Block

For the longest time, I used a scrap piece of wood for a sanding block. It was simple and didn’t cost much. But it never worked as well as I would've liked — the sandpaper tended to shift around and tear. Then, the guys at Woodsmith came up with a "new" sanding block that works really well. Not only does it fit my hand perfectly; it also holds the paper in place using plastic tubing.
To make the sanding block, first I found a "palm-sized" scrap block and drilled a couple of rounded channels across the top of the block. (To do this, you'll need a 1/2"-dia. Forstner bit.) Finally, round the nose of the block on a belt sander, and if you want to get really fancy, you can rout a finger grip on each side. Note: Click on the drawing for a larger view.
The sandpaper is held in place by two pieces of 1/2"-dia. plastic tubing that are cut to length and pressed into the channels. To use the sanding block, simply secure the back end of the sandpaper with one of the plastic tubes. Then wrap the paper around the block and secure the other end the same way.
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Applying Edging

Gluing hardwood edging to plywood has never been one of my favorite tasks. It’s always tricky to keep the edging from slipping while tightening down the clamps. So to help hold the edging in place, I made some special clamping blocks. These blocks have a shallow, wide groove on one side that's sized to just fit over the edging and plywood. This holds the edging flush with the plywood. (Click on the drawing for a larger version.)

In case you're wondering, to prevent the blocks from getting glued to the workpiece, I apply wax to the surface of the blocks before using them.

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Putty Trick

When filling nail holes with putty, I used to smear the putty around without too much thought. This caused problems if the putty was lighter or darker than the wood around it and resulted in large blotches (instead of tiny nail-sized spots). Fortunately, I found a better way to fill the holes with less mess.

Before even picking up the hammer and nails, first I apply a strip of masking tape. Then I drive in the nails or brads and set the heads like I normally would. Finally, I force the putty into the holes and remove the tape. The small “bump” of putty that remains can be easily sanded away.

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Repairing Loose Tenons

It's frustrating when you cut a mortise only to find out your tenon doesn't fit snugly. Luckily, though, there's an easy fix that doesn't require cutting new mortises. The key is to build up the tenon instead.
A simple fix for a round tenon is to glue on a shaving from a hand plane. Then sand the tenon to fit snugly in the mortise.
For square tenons, glue a thin piece of wood veneer to each cheek. Gluing veneer to both checks ensures the tenon will be centered in the mortise. Orient the grain in the same direction to get a strong glue joint, too. Again, once the glue dries, trim the tenon to fit snugly in the mortise.

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Driving Screws into MDF

I often use medium-density fiberboard (MDF) for my shop jigs and fixtures. There are many things I like about MDF. It's stable, heavy, and costs about half as much as cabinet-grade plywood. One thing I don't like about MDF is its tendency to split along the edge of a workpiece. But, luckily, there are a couple of things you can do to avoid this problem. MDF tends to split most often when drilling and screwing in its edge, especially when using a tapered woodscrew. It acts like a wedge to drive the workpiece apart. So I've gotten into the habit of using a straight-shanked screw.
However, a straight-shanked screw isn't a cure-all. Even when using a pilot hole and the right screw, MDF can still split out. So one final precaution is to support the sides by clamping an ordinary handscrew across the workpiece, see the photo. It makes it almost impossible to split the MDF.
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Workbench Height

Does your back start to ache after you've been working at your bench for a while? Have you ever tried to hand plane a board and decided it was just too much work? The height of the work surface of your workbench can make a difference. It should be the right height to fit you and the way you work.

On most benches, the working surface is somewhere between 33" and 36" high. If you're average height (between 5'9" and 6'0"), that's usually a comfortable height. But even a change of 1" up or down can make a big difference in how easy it is to work at the bench. We've used a lot of methods to determine the best height for a bench. But one simple method seems to give the best results. Just measure the distance from the floor to the crease on the inside of your wrist. Adjust the length of the legs on your workbench so the height of the work surface matches your wrist crease measurement. If you're 5'10" or taller, you may find a wrist crease measurement of 35" to 37". This may seem too high for a bench -- especially considering the old standards. But those standards were developed and valid when the general population was shorter than it is today.

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BTW: The bench in the photo is the Woodsmith Workbench. PlansNOW.com has details.

Knockdown Sawhorses

A set of sawhorses always comes in handy – until you put them away. They’re hard to stack, and they take up valuable space.
If this sounds like your experience, build a pair of sawhorses that “knock down” for storage. Besides saving space, these sawhorses can be assembled (or taken apart) in just a few seconds.
Each sawhorse consists of a long stretcher that fits down into a notch in two A-shaped supports. Drawings and details here.
This plan was one of the weekly woodworking etips from Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines a while ago. You can have tips and plans like this sent to your emailbox each week (they're free).
BTW: The guys over at WoodNet Forums are sharing photos of their sawhorses.