Archive for February, 2007
ObjectWhat are the common woodworking joints?
There are a wide variety of techniques in joining boards together from simple butt joints to through mortis and tenon joinery. Each joinery technique has a set of applications where it works very well at. Learning how to make these joints will greatly increase your woodworking skills and expand the types of projects that you [...]
Woodshop Safety
Woodshop safety is not a very popular topic. Most woodworkers want to know the latest tool, free plans, or learn more advanced techniques. All of which are important; however, without paying attention to shop safety, the likelihood of having a major accident increases greatly.
How to work with phenolic when building a router table insert?
What is phenolic?
“Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. These layers of laminations are usually of cellulose paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic yarn fabrics, glass fabrics or unwoven fabrics. When heat and pressure are applied to the layers, a [...]
What types of material should I use for an insert to my router table?
For commercially made router tables, the manufacture offers a wide array of inserts for their table(s). Many commercially made router table inserts are made from steel. It is easy to machine, durable, strong, and thin. The generic insert for a router table has a hole for the router bit and holes to [...]
How to select the right caster for your woodworking project
My first response to this question was how much weight will the caster need to carry? But then I decided to look into to it a bit more discovered that there are several factors that need to be considered and evaluated before being able to narrow down the list of casters the right one [...]
Mahogany: What is real Mahogany?
Mahogany trees grow in several regions around the world. Primarily the trees grow in Central Africa, Caribbean islands, Central and South America, and in the Philippine islands. With so many different species of mahogany, the question becomes ‘what is real mahogany’? To answer this question lets examine some of the more popular mahogany species.
Could Ed Sanders’s injury have been prevented?
If you watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition last night, Sunday February 11, 2007, you saw them build a home for a hero from September 11, 2001. It was a very moving story about what he did to help find victims buried in the debris pile.
What do caster ratings mean?
Casters are typically divided into three general categories light duty casters, medium duty casters, and heavy duty casters. These three categories have a fairly broad range within them.
What squares do I need in my woodshop?
The 90 degree angle is the main stay of wood working. When corners meet at a right angle things work, walls stand up straight, cabinet doors fit snuggly, drawers slide smoothly and close tightly.
Take a walk down the tool aisle at your local home improvement store and you will find a plethora of squares from [...]
What is NiCad battery memory effect?
For as long as rechargeable NiCad batteries have been available to the consumer, we have been warned about the dreaded ‘memory effect’. How important it is to periodically completely drain the battery of all power to eliminate the memory effect?
How to select the best lighting fixtures for your home woodworking shop.
Selecting the lighting fixtures and layout of the lights in the woodworking shop is a task that requires a significant amount of time and planning. It is necessary to determine where all of the stationary tools, work bench(s), mobile tools will be positioned to determine how much and where the lights need to be placed. [...]