This method is intended to replace nails, screws, and other metal fasteners in almost any type of wood joinery. The material is inexpensive and readily available in any grocery store. Simple hand tools are all that is needed to lock a wood joint and keep it from separating from use or age. The pins are bamboo kabob skewers and they typically run 1/8" to 5/32" in diameter making them a perfect size for wood joinery. Bamboo has straight, tough grain that is very resistant to shear forces....

How to set Bit and or blade height using various methods.
By Loring Chien
Oct 20, 2024

Someone remarked how they had a hard time setting bit heights. Here is a brief tutorial on several ways and the best way I have found.

The classic way is to use a ruler and measure the tip of the cutting bit, as shown below:

This is some problems, hard to see, parallax, resolution. And that the tip of the bit is not flat but pointed. The cut will be to the depth...

Trying to drill into a outside 90 degree corner, 45° to each side, is tough, the drill bit keeps wanting to walk off.
You can whack a small flat on the corner.
But here is a way I did it perfectly. Using this corner drill jig

Using the drilling jig, One hand is enough to hold the jig while drilling. The small vertical stick touching the top of the jig is my measurement stick. I use that to set the precise reproducible location of the hole relative to the top of the workpiece....

So you want to buy a BT3 clone. Been out of production for a while. Shopping on Craigs list or for sale ads is hard

You have to keep an eye out and you have to be used to spotting the appearance giveaway features of the various models... Ryobi BT3000, BT3100, Craftsman 22811 and 21829
There are certain things that clue you in and there are many ads that don't give model numbers and have crappy photos. Search for keywords RYOBI, Precision, System are often used in ad listings and...

Do you guys know your router bits?

Do you know how to tell a plunge bit from a non-plunge bit?

A non plunge bit has cutters around the periphery, but not the center. It can enter grooves from the side and cut moving sideways.

A plunge bit has cutters that go all the way to the center of the bit face. It can cut moving vertically as well as sideways.
Above see the bar across the center as well as the two edge cutters? Without this bar, when you drive the...

I was in the shop this weekend and was trying to figure out the math for the settings on the Festool Domino to space the mortices evenly and centered across a cabinet front to back. After a bunch of trial and error with my math, I gave up and got close enough and cut the Domino slots for most of the cabinets before my shop time ran out. It was still bugging me, so I figured it out on the plane on the way to work.

Very simply, we need to subtract the width of all mortises created from...

While attending a "fundamentals of woodworking" class taught by Marc Adams at the Indianapolis woodworking show a few years ago, I was most impressed with his simple yet effective method of sharpening woodworking chisels. I contacted Marc and asked him for permission to write an article for BT3Central on how to sharpen chisels using his method. As expected, Marc was very receptive to the idea of sharing one of his "secrets". His exact response to me was " Absolutely, please feel free to teach anything you learned from me." So let's dive right into this and sharpen some chisels.
...

Most common places to use air fittings in a home shop:
Air compressor to hose or female QD fitting
QD female fitting or male stud to hose
male stud to tool (such as - air nozzle, nailer, screwdriver/drill/impact driver etc, spray painter)
any semi-permanent 1/4" NPT to 1/4" NPT fitting

To add to the confusion, there's nothing on a 1/4" NPT that really measures 1/4". THe threads are visibly tapered and the overall outside size of the male NPT...

Digital calipers like these are available for 10-30 dollars. The size quoted as in "6-inch digital calipers" refers to the maximum measurement. The resolution and accuracy of these are typically .001 or one-thousandth of an inch. Some have an additional digit that shows 0 or 5 for half a thousandth. I recommend the six-inch Harbor freight ones, they work very well and are of surprisingly high quality. The stainless body ones are better than the composite plastic body ones although the plastic ones ...

I have posted the tutorial as a PDF file attachment as it was picture intensive and I didn't want to have to mess with formatting the file here.
Please download and view the PDF file....

Have you ever chucked up that big bit, say a 3" Forstner bit, and without thinking just line up your hole, power up the drill press and start drilling away only to have the drill press bog down and end up with the chuck slipping, or even falling off the taper? Well, the fix is plenty simple. First off. Avoid slipping the chuck at all. This means you need to make certain of the following. #1. Your bits are good and sharp. A dull bit will grab the workpiece instead of cutting it. You'd bog down...

It's really not very hard to make your own jig for very little bucks.
1. Buy a wood square dowel 1/4" - they are usually quite square and accurate. Available at Ace, HD, Lowes. A buck or two for 36"
2. Cut two, 4" pieces of the square dowel.
3. Laminate two 1x4 by about 18" and attach this jig to your miter fence to allow moving sideways - easy with the BT3 fence with slot. Also easy with the Rockler fence clamps if you have them (get some if you don't have...

Cutting Circles with your Router
Copyright 2012 by Loring Chien

OK, so you need to cut a large circle or arc in a piece of wood or panel. Freehanding with a jigsaw is a possibility, but for a really smooth and accurate circle the router is the best tool.

Theres a number of jigs on the market for sale and they cost around $40 to $60 like this one from Rockler:



And this one from Jasper:



They are nice but unless you...

Hot Rodding The Central Machinery #32208 14" 4 speed woodcutting band saw. The Grizzly Tension Release assembly and related components. Before I dive into this, consider this a LICENSE for use. This information is provided for informational purposes only, no warranty to effectiveness, safety, or fitness for any purpose is given. The reader assumes all responsibility for all consequences arising from the use of the information provided. The reader likewise holds the original poster harmless, and wi...

The question comes up occasionally about using chemicals to change the color of wood. Usually the desired result is the color of aged wood--cherry and mahogany come immediately to mind as woods that develop rich, lustrous color when they are aged. Aging is free, but it's slow, and we're impatient woodworkers here in the 21st century. Dye stains can darken cherry or mahogany quickly, but the wood beneath the dye does continue to darken with age, and you can wind up with a darker piece than you re...