Page 15 - Workshop Setup & Tool Maintenance

This compact and portable router table is ideal for small shops and jobsite use. The folding base on the Rockler Convertible Benchtop Router Table can be quickly reconfigured for benchtop use, wall-mounted use, or collapsed entirely for storage or transport. In addition, the unique router plate lets you quickly remove the router for freehand use, then dock it again for table use—the compact size of the plate makes it light and nimble in freehand applications.

Take a break from building your woodworking projects to make sure you’re stocked up on the supplies that you use on almost every project. Whether you’re sanding, doing a glue-up, applying finish or cleaning your bits and blades, there are supplies here you’re going to need for almost everything you build.

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.

What type of dust mask should a woodworker wear? If you're protecting yourself from dust you should always try to capture the dust at the source with a shop vacuum or dust collection system, but you should also protect yourself by covering your nose and mouth with a good dust respirator. Whether you go with a disposable dust mask, re-usable mask, or a powered dust respirator, any of these options will help you protect your long-term health in the shop. Just pick one, then do the right thing and get in the habit of using it — whenever you’re making sawdust.

One of the best ways to organize your woodworking shop is to store your clamps on a rack that is easy to access. The Rockler Pack Rack Clamp Rack is more than just a basic clamp rack, this is a full-service mobile work station and storage solution!

Clean up the clutter and hazards in your shop caused by loose cords, hoses, and cables on the shop floor or benches. The Rockler Ceiling Track System features hooks that keep your cords and hoses off the ground, but roll freely along a ceiling track so you can sand, saw and rout without fighting with them. They can also be used to hang doors for finishing or to hang tools and utility lights.

Clean up the clutter and hazards in your shop caused by loose cords, hoses, and cables on the shop floor or benches. The Rockler Ceiling Track System features hooks that keep your cords and hoses off the ground, but roll freely along a ceiling track so you can sand, saw and rout without fighting with them. They can also be used to hang doors for finishing or to hang tools and utility lights.

As durable as most table saws are, they do require attention from time to time. If you're table saw is is leaving rough saw marks, burning wood or bogging down when you rip average stock thicknesses, chances are something's amiss, and it's time to diagnose the problem.

Fretwork and intricate cutting don't have to be expensive, there are some very affordable scroll saws on the market. The late Rodney Dangerfield probably would have felt a solidarity with scroll saws because, among all other woodworking machines, these seem to get the least respect — or more fairly, the least amount of press. When we need to cut curves, we tend to head to the band saw, and that’s a logical choice.

Ripping wood is a primary function of the table saw, and because its importance, many manufacturers pay particular attention to the quality the rip fence on the saws they offer. Still, many factory fence systems lack the reliability and precision that would qualify them for exacting work.

Modern power planers are equipped to plane and do many of the same tasks as a shop jointer, but with added portability outside your workshop. The worlds of woodworking and construction are similar but don’t always overlap. Tools used for one aren’t always suitable for the other. Some newer power planers, like this one from Porter-Cable, feature a switch that allows you to change the direction that chips and dust blow out.