Page 5 - Workshop Setup & Tool Maintenance

By itself, the fence that came with your table saw isn't always enough. Sometimes you need to add an "auxiliary" fence. But how do you keep it attached?

Setting up an efficient and easy-to-use dust collection system is important in every woodworking shop. A workshop with excessive piles of wood chips and surfaces coated in sawdust can affect how well you work and how much you enjoy being in your shop. More importantly, wood dust can directly impact your personal health and safety. The best woodworking dust collection systems contain and collect dust at the source, minimize any mess that is left after your project is complete, make it easy to clean up the mess that is left behind, and makes your shop a healthier place to work. In this article you'll learn how to select and set up the best dust collector and dust collection accessories for your shop.

How do you choose the best router bits when you're getting started in woodworking? Routers are one of the most versatile woodworking tools. You can use them as a portable handheld tool or mount them in a router table. Rockler sells the best router bits in hundreds of profiles for your woodworking project. So how do you choose the best router bits for your first woodworking projects? Start by considering the kinds of woodworking projects you want to make. Then choose the router bits you will need to complete those first projects. You can add to your collection of router bits as you build more projects. To help you get started, we've put together this list of the top 10 types of router bits used by most woodworkers.

Lumber is not always flat and ready to use. Sometimes woodworkers must flatten a board before using it to build a project. There are several ways to flatten a board. One of the most efficient ways to flatten a board is by using a powered thickness planer, such as the DeWalt DW735x Planer. This planer makes it easy to mill lumber flat. It features a three knife cutter-head that delivers 30% longer knife life and makes knife changes faster and easier. A fan-assisted chip ejection system vacuums chips off of the cutter-head and exhausts them out of the machine keeping your workspace clean.Learn more about this planer's features and a couple tips that will help you get the most out of your planer.

Mounting dust fittings to a wall can be a hassle, involving trips to the hardware store, a hodgepodge of parts, and shaky results that slide around when you need to attach or detach a hose. Dust Right Ready-Mount Fittings and Blast Gates make it easier than ever to design and install an efficient layout of dust collection hose lines. Made from durable ABS plastic, these durable fittings securely mount to the wall the interlocking Ready-Mount Brackets. The Ready-Mount Blast Gates feature heavy-duty mounting flanges and redesigned gate mechanism, making them the best blast gates we have every offered.

Some accessories can help make your band saw even more versatile.

Today, band saw blades are marvels of engineering and are the key to getting the most from your machine.

Like most woodworking machines, especially those that cut wood, proper safety procedures are important when using the band saw.

Bandsaws are able to easily cut curves in wood, but they can do so much more than that.

All tools have specific terminology that applies to them. Here is a short list of some terms that apply to band saws.

Before you do any other maintenance, make sure your jointer's infeed and outfeed tables are parallel or the tool is virtually useless.