Page 15 - Cutting and Shaping Wood

This auxiliary table doubles the cutting surface of your bandsaw, with T-tracks to assist in setting up jigs and cutting guides. The common 14" band saw is one of the most versatile shop machines. You can crosscut and rip on it, do circles and complicated curves, even scrollwork with the right blade. It easily resaws expensive stock up to 6" wide and turns that waste into additional projects.

Does every woodworker need a complete set of Forstner bits? In truth, many other less expensive bits - like brad point bits - will do a nice job in many situations. Keep in mind, though, that Forstner bits have a few qualities that make them indispensable in certain situations. You may be able to get by without a set of Forstner bits, but if you stick with woodworking for a few years, you'll probably end up with at least part of one - purchased one at a time out of sheer necessity. When you weigh the cost of individual bits against the much more friendly price per bit afforded by a complete set, the set starts to look like a bargain.

For as little as it takes to get set up, and the short time it takes to acquire skill at using a router table, it's easy to see why this venerable workhorse is often one of the first and most important tool purchases that a woodworker ever makes. Below, we'll take a quick look at the common woodworking procedures that you can master within the first few weeks of owning a router table, including:

For a woodworker, being able to "solve" right triangles is an extremely important skill. Compound miters, multi-sided structures and a variety of other complex building projects can all be understood and calculated using right triangle trigonometry. If the term trigonometry causes you to suffer a sudden onset of "math anxiety," you'll be happy to know that the trigonometry you need for woodworking isn't all that complicated.

If you're an occasional scroll saw user, you might think that one scroll saw blade is pretty much like another. The fact is, there's quite a range not only in type and purpose among scroll saw blades, but also in quality, and the differences can really show up in how a blade performs. How do you pick a good one?

Having trouble getting a uniform 90 degree cut from your jigsaw? It’s a common problem, especially when you’re cutting curves. The issue may lie with the blade, the saw, your technique or any combination of the three, as Michael Dresdner and Ellis Wallentine explain to this Woodworker’s Journal eZine reader:

Grizzly brings professional grade power and many of the same elements that come standard with more industrial drill presses with a price tag that's astoundingly low. In fact, it has the same feature set as the floor mounted model.

Nothing makes a person feel more like a pro than chiseling out a nice, crisp, tight-fitting hinge mortise by hand, but is there a better method? A Woodworker's Journal reader asks this:

The trim router is a tool that might not get much use in some shops, but it is unique and surprisingly versatile tool. They’re lightweight, surprisingly powerful and small enough to go places other bulky routers can’t. If you only use yours for trimming plastic laminate, think again.

For most do-it-yourselfers and carpenters, it takes a while to warm up to the idea of installing crown molding. The process just seems more intimidating than other trim carpentry and basic joinery tasks.

A Woodworker's Journal reader asks: how can I create fluting on a circular or round wooden column? I read someplace that one way this can be accomplished is on a lathe that has indexing capabilities, but I could never understand how. I do not have an indexing lathe but, have routers, a router table and chisels, help!