Page 12 - Cutting and Shaping Wood

Learn how to make a raised panel door using cuts from your standard table saw. We'll show all the small steps you'll need to make this project a breeze.

This DIY circular saw cutting guide will help you make straight and accurate cuts with your circular saw. Learn how to make this saw guide. You only need a couple pieces of thin sheet stock to make this guide and it will work with just about any circular saw. You can also make the same type of cutting guide for your jig saw.

How to use a hand plane and a miter shooting board to make your corner miters fit perfectly. A miter shooting board, also known as a miter shoot, is simply a jig that guides your hand plane to cut perfect 45 degree miters. This is a great jig to help you make picture frames with nice tight corner miters.

Table saw push devices are a key piece of woodworking safety gear. Push sticks and push blocks keep your hands a safe distance away from the table saw blade. You can make your own push stick or push block out of scrap stock. You can also purchase manufactured push devices that serve multiple functions.

One of the best accessories or jigs for improving table saw safety and help prevent kickbacks is a featherboard. A featherboard is a jig with several angled fins. The featherboard is placed just in front of the blade. The fins flex to press the work piece against the fence and prevent it from moving backwards during the cut.

A zero clearance insert or throat plate is one of the best upgrades you can make to a table saw. If you’re having trouble with tear-out on the bottom edge of your table saw crosscuts, or experienced the sudden shock of a narrow piece of drop-off wedging in between the saw blade and the opening in your saw’s throat plate, then you should get a zero clearance throat plate or insert.

The fastest way to crosscut a notch or dado for a lap joint is to use a dado set and table saw, but you can make the same cut using a circular saw and chisel.

A mortising machine makes cutting mortises fast and easy. Learn how to set up and cut mortises with a hollow chisel mortising machine. These tips will help you get great results with your mortise machine.

How to safely cut full pieces of sheet stock on a table saw. Cutting full sheets of plywood, MDF, OSB, melamine, or particle board can be tricky and even dangerous. If you plan to cut a full sheet of plywood on the table saw, it's best to get a second person to help support the plywood. If you are working alone, it is best to use a circular saw to cut the plywood into smaller pieces.

How to make repeatable cuts on your table saw. A sacrificial fence is a replaceable fence that is attached to your miter gauge. The sacrificial fence provides additional support behind the work piece and prevents splintering on the back side of the cut. A stand-off block is a spacer that is attached to the guide fence. The stand-off block is used to register the work piece to make the same length crosscut with each pass. The stand-off block keep the work piece away from the fence during the cut, preventing any chance of binding or kick back.

Learn how to adjust and use a hand plane. Hand planes have been used by woodworkers for hundreds of years, but it can be challenging to smooth wood using a bench plane if you don't know how to adjust and properly work it across the wood surface. Master Woodworker Ian Kirby demonstrates the proper way to adjust a hand plane, how to stand when using a hand plane, and how to push a hand plane across a board to get great results. After watching Ian's hand plane lesson, you'll be able to easily plane boards perfectly smooth.