1. Make your own bench dogs using 3/4″ hardwood dowels and rubber chair leg tips. The rubber tip gives a cushioned grip on your work piece as well as well as keeps the dog from sliding down the bench hole.

2. Using alcohol on a glue line is a great way to clean up excess epoxy, if you do it before it cures.

3. If you find that your chalk line is smudging and becoming unreadable try spraying it with hairspray.

4. A plywood block with a saw kerf in the top edge makes a handy scraper rack.

5. Need to copy something but out of transfer paper? Use a soft lead pencil to shade over the lines of your drawing on the back of the paper. Then tape your pattern to your workpiece and retrace.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

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1. Remove pencil marks on your wood with lacquer thinner. It is easier and more effective than sanding and it works in tight corners.

2. When you need to enlarge a tablesaw dado just a bit tape a piece of paper to the fence and run the wood through again. You can vary the adjustment with different thicknesses of paper.

3. For a quick lubricant for tool miter slots try scribbling on the bottom of the slot with a pencil. The graphite will make things slide more freely.

4. When using wood filler mix in saw dust from the wood you are working on to make the filler a better match.

5. When making wooden toys with wheels use a sharpened piece of copper tube to punch small washers from a plastic coffee can top. The washers make good spacers and the wheels spin better.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

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1. Coat screws with little bit of beeswax to make them easier to install, especially in hardwoods.

2. Sometimes masking tape will dry out over time. You can renew it by putting it in the microwave for a few seconds.

3. In addition to frequently filing your lathe toolrest smooth rub a piece of paraffin wax along it. This will allow your tools to glide more easily.

4. Use cooking oil to remove spots of polyurethane from your hands. Rub a small amount on your hands and scrub. Finish up with soap and water.

5. Household vinegar (acetic acid) makes an excellent rust removal agent. Soaking a rusted tool for a couple of hours will chemically dissolve the rust. Follow this by wiping with a neutralizer like baking soda.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

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1. To get a better grip on the round, twist-type clamp handles drill a hole through the side of the handle and insert a dowel. This will give you better torque and not cause your hands to cramp.

2. When you only have one hand available and no magnetized screwdriver tip just slip a short piece of plastic tubing over the screwdriver bit to hold a screw. This works well when installing screws with an electric drill too.

3. To stop a hole saw from clogging and burning first score the wood with the hole saw to outline the hole. Then drill a 3/4″ clearance hole through the wood along the inside edge of the scored circle. Then cut the hole as normal. The 3/4″ hole allows the sawdust to escape eliminating the clogging and burning.

4. If you store your waterstones in water, add a few drops of household bleach to the water. This will prevent algae from growing in the water and it will not harm the stones.

5. Foam water-pipe insulation makes a great cover for your pipe camps. It’s inexpensive, comes pre-split and will protect your work. Shower curtain rod covers work well too!

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

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1. To sand in a hard to reach place just cut a piece of sandpaper to fit on the end of a tongue depressor or popsicle stick and glue it on. Then trim off any excess sandpaper. If you need a thinner sanding surface the tongue depressors and popsicle sticks split very easily. Split and then glue on the sandpaper.

2. Clamps too short? Extend your clamp length by joining two clamps with a third one. Sometimes you can get away with just two clamps if the angle of the clamp heads of the two joined clamps is suitable to your application.

3. If you need to countersink screws inside a drawer for a drawer pull simply drill the hole for the draw pull screw. Then, keeping the drill bit in the hole, mount the countersink cutter to the bit where it extends into the inside of the drawer. Reverse the rotation of the drill and gently pull back to create the countersink.

4. When cutting a slot for an exposed spline use an outer dado blade instead of your regular combination table saw blade. The raker teeth on the outer dado blade will create a flat-bottomed kerf instead of the V-bottomed kerf made by the alternating teeth on the combination blade, thereby allowing the spline to seat properly with no noticeable gaps. This bears repeating, only use an outer dado blade. Never use the inside dado blades alone!

5. When filling nail holes with putty there is often the tendency to apply to much. This results in more sanding and can leave ‘oil’ marks on the wood. To eliminate this problem place masking tape where you are going to nail. Then pound in the nail, sink the head, fill the hole and remove the tape. All you are left with is a small bit of putty that is easily sanded and leaves no mark.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

Back to the shop…

1. To keep small brass screws fro breaking when screwing them into wood first drill a pilot hole and then screw in the same size steel screw. The steel screw will form threads that will allow the softer, brass screw enter easily without breaking. If you don’t have a small enough drill bit for the pilot hole use a small nail or brad.

2. Old bicycle tire inner tubes make great clamps for odd shaped items. Simply slice the tube at the valve stem to make it one long length. Removed the valve stem. Then cut the tube into two strips. Wrap the tube around your project pulling it tight. Hold in place with clamps or by tying it.

3. If you find that the live center of your lathe penetrates too far into the end grain of your wood, especially when turning very small items, insert a small flat washer over the end of the live center. This will limit the penetration, while still centering and applying ample pressure on the end of your wood.

4. When sawing plywood use a blade made specifically for cutting plywood to get the best results. When sawing on a table saw position the best side up. When sawing with a circular saw position the best side down.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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1. When carving Cottonwood Bark ensure that the wood is no more than a year off the tree. Cottonwood Bark contains a waxy oil that will dissipate over time and cause the bark to become brittle and dry. Once this happens your chisel will break the edges of the bark, making it hard to create a quality carving.

2. Make a scribble mark on the waste side of a cut to ensure that you remember what side to make your cut on.

3. Static cling causes dust to attach itself to your faceshield. Wipe your faceshield with a laundry dryer antistatic sheet. Try a sheet that has been used in the dryer at least once because a fresh sheet will leave streaks and a sheet that has been used too much won’t have enough ‘cling repellent’ left on it to be useful.

4. When sanding by hand without a sanding block you can keep your sandpaper from tearing so easily by covering the back side with duct tape prior to use. This works well with palm sanders too.

5. One annoyance when using an orbital sander is that it continues to spin after it has been turned off. Instead of buying one of those ’sander sitters’ just use a piece of carpet that has a bit of pile.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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1. When building a deck it’s possible to straighten a warped deck board - even when working by yourself - with the aid of a scissor-style car jack. A 2×4 cleat screwed to the supporting joists allows you to exert enough force with the jack to straighten the board. Then screw the board in place.

2. Sawdust and shavings from Pine and Oak lumber can be composted to form a nutritious mulch for gardens, shrubs and trees. It is best to mix it with other compost like leaves and grass clippings. Never compost sawdust from pressure-treated lumber, plywood or particle board which contains hazardous additives.

3. Some woods, such as walnut or oak, are very tough and hard to carve. You can soften the wood up by applying de-natured alcohol to it. The alcohol will not cause the grain to raise like water will. The alcohol, of course, will evaporate with time.

4. Need to fill in a crack or check? Mix sawdust from your piece with glue and put into the crack or check. When dry, sand and finish as usual.

5. Use a framing square to find the center of a circle by placing the corner of the square on the circle, and marking where the legs meet the circumference. Draw a line from one mark to the other. Do this a second time. These lines intersect at the center.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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1. To draw a line parallel to the edge of a board quickly, set the blade of a combination square to the desired distance. Position the flat side of the square against the edge of the board, and place a pencil at the end of the blade. Pull the square and the pencil toward you to draw the line.

2. To measure the diameter of a round object make a simple gauge with a ruler and two squared pieces of wood. Place the round object between the two blocks of wood and then measure the distances between the two blocks.

3. Wrap a piece of sandpaper around and old deck of playing cards to make a handy contour sander. The deck of cards will shape itself to the contours of the workpiece.

4. An old phonebook makes a great renewable work surface for small painting and gluing projects. Simply tear out the dirty pages to provide a clean work surface.

5. Although tack cloths are fairly inexpensive you can make your own by moistening a lint free cloth with equal parts of turpentine and oil-based varnish. Store homemade tack cloths in an airtight container.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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1. If you have a moisture problem in your shop keep your cast-iron tools like your tablesaw and lathe bed covered with heavy cotton bath towels when not in use. This will keep rust at bay and save you countless hours removing rust.

2. The strongest wooden tool handles have wood grain that runs parallel to tool head. Handles with grain running perpendicular to the tool head are more likely to break.

3. Hold a saw at 90 degrees to the workpiece for fast cuts. This leaves a rough edge. Hold a saw at 45 degrees to the workpiece for most cuts. This produces a fairly smooth cut. Hold a saw at a 20 degree angle to the workpiece to make very smooth cuts.

4. On the tablesaw cut boards that are too wide for the miter gauge in its normal position by turning it around so that the gauge precedes the workpiece.

5. Checking for square is crucial when building frames, boxes, cabinets, drawers, etc. To check for square quickly measure the distance of the diagonal corners. The measurements should be identical if the workpiece is square.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Back to the shop…