There are several different types of hearing protection available.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Read through this guide to determine which hearing protection best suites your needs. (more…)

Most people do not carry around with them a dBA monitor to sample the ambient noise. So how, can you tell if noise is damaging to your hearing? What is considered to be a safe decibel level of noise? Is there graphical way to view noise? (more…)

Hearing loss as with any loss is difficult to understand or relate to until you experience it first hand.  Unfortunately most all hearing loss is permanent.  Most people especially teenagers don’t have a clue how they are damaging their hearing.  For that fact, many weekend woodworkers don’t realize how their hobby is destroying their hearing over time. (more…)

Newer power tools in the owner’s manual manufactures are starting to include decibel or db ratings for the tool running with no load and under load.  Ok. That is nice information, but what is a decibel and how does that relate to the amount of noise in the wood shop?

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Woodworking power tools are loud, ask anyone not involved in the hobby. The problem is we love our power tools. They help us quickly and more easily create the wood working projects that we have been thinking about. (more…)

Butt joints, box joints and 45 degree miter joints are all very common joints when building cabinets, book cases, and shelving systems. The challenge is to assemble the panels in exact 90 degree angle. Even when all of the panels are cut at the right angle there is still a good chance that when assembled they will be out of square slightly. (more…)

Your in your woodshop and have completed cutting out the pieces for the cabinet your building. All of the panels have been sanded down and you are ready to assemble them. You have dry fitted the pieces together and now have glued and clamped them with bar and pipe clamps. After fastening them together you realize that the cabinet is out of square. A clamping square can help prevent this problem from happening. (more…)

You need to clamp diagonally across a case. The problem is the clamp has a flat face and needs to be steady on the point of the corner and not damage the corner when clamping pressure is applied. (more…)

After having cut all of the pieces of a cabinet it is time to dry fit them together and check how well everything fits together.  Now it is time to determine if the cabinet is square.

Note: This technique applies to any box you are building from a cabinet to bed frame. (more…)

When gluing up a large panel, will alternating the ring pattern prevent the panel from warping in the future?

Maybe, while it does not hurt the panel but it does not prevent the panel from warping. (more…)

Now that we have determined several reasons why chip prints occur during planning, how do I stop the problem? (more…)

You are planning up some rough lumber for your next fine furniture project.  After the first few passes the roughness is mostly gone and the rich grain pattern is becoming visible.  But then after a pass through the bench top planner you notice that the surface of the planned wood is pitted with what looks like pot marks or dents.  What is going on to cause this? (more…)