Grainger Industrial Supply

Looking for personal protection equipment to wear in the shop? How about a new motor for that old table saw your grandfather left you? A new cordless drill?

Did you know there is a place you can go to find all this stuff?  Grainger Industrial Supply has all of these parts – and millions more. I ran into one of their reps this week at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference, and he showed me the catalog of the stuff they offer… Boy, was that one thick book!   They are worldwide, have locations all over the place and have all of those oddball pieces of hardware you can’t seem to find.

(Hey, folks, please take the opportunity to read my editorial statement at the head of Monday’s column. There are several points of clarification that need to be read.)

WebEcoist’s 20 pallet DIY woodworking projects

Back in the days when items shipped in wooden crates, many woodworkers got their start building projects out of that packaging material. With cardboard replacing wooden crates, there is still one excellent resource for finding project wood on the cheap – wooden pallets.

This green online green site offers some interesting inspiration for projects that can be built with recycled shipping pallets. From the whimsical to the uber-practical, readers can find all types of links to plans to turn trash to woodworking treasure.

Sure, there are several standard caveats when dealing with pallets:

• They may belong to a shipping company, so ask before you take them!
• They are typically assembled with a bajillion staples and nails, so be sure to go through them carefully to ensure you get all of the metal out before you start to work
• They are also usually filled with all kind of grit which can easily dull your blades. Clean them thoroughly with a wire brush and a blast of compressed air to dislodge the worst of it.

Micro Jig Tools

With my last post this Wood Worker’s Safety Week, it’s only fitting that I focus on a company whose purpose is safety… Micro Jig.

While their offerings include the MJ splitter system (in both plastic and steel core models) and their Zero-Play guide bar system for building jigs, without a doubt, their flagship product is the GRR-Ripper 3-D push block.

This little baby is famed in song and story as what is close to the ultimate push block for work on table saws, router tables and other power tools. It offers excellent control , and even allows the user to push it over the table saw blade, securing the work while allowing the blade to pass through the tunnel formed by the block’s two feet.

Take a look at their offerings, their fully-video information center and their support pages to find out more about their offerings. While not the most glamorous tools, their offerings will definitely help you amp up the safety in your shop.

Wood-Mizer Portable Sawmills

When you want wood, you go to a hardwood supplier or local sawmill and get some awesome stuff. When the old tree you used to climb in behind your grandparent’s house blows  over during a storm and you don’t want to see it ground up into mulch, you need to bring in a portable sawmill.

The folks at Wood-Mizer are specialists in portable wood mills, but that’s only one part of their offerings. In fact, they sell all of the the equipment to take a tree from its whole form to useable lumber. Even if you don’t want to own your own, the company can put you in touch with local portable sawmill owners who just might be able to help you out.

Time Warp Tools’ wooden bench dogs

RUFF!  Bench dogs are some of the handiest things you can have for your workbench. These babies set into dog holes in your bench allowing you to clamp work down securely using either the dog in your bench vise, wedges or other holding contrivances.

Many of these bench dogs are metal. And, should you plane past the edge of your work and your plane iron hits the metal dog, well, get ready to do some serious sharpening. And, if you really crank down on the pressure to hold the work down, metal dogs are more likely to mar the face of the board they bear against.  That’s why wooden dogs are preferred… and that’s where the folks at Time Warp Tools can help.

These babies are made of kiln-dried, quartersawn ash which is both plenty strong to immobilize the workpiece and soft enough to avoid causing any dents.  Just as importantly, cutting edges aren’t affected in the least when they accidentally hit the dog.  A sprung ball catch allows the dogs to hold their vertical position.

Now, if you need a plane to go with that snazzy new set of bench dogs, why not check out their hand made wooden planes?

Joe Woodworker’s guide to using veneer tape

Veneering can open your woodworking to exciting new possibilities. Imagine a wildly swirling walnut burl door panel on your next cabinet project?  How about a gracefully veneered mantle clock featuring crotch grain? If you can imagine it, you can do it.

While it’s great to be able to cover your project with one complete sheet of veneer, sometimes, you will need to join two sheets to cover a large project. Or, maybe you want to cut your veneer sheets into smaller pieces and combine them into a fancy book matched or star burst pattern. If you need to do this, your secret weapon is veneer tape.

This tape activates with moisture (kind of like a postage stamp) and helps to hold the sheets of veneer together until it can be adhered to a substrate.  As the tape dries, it shrinks ever so slightly, ensuring that seam is as tight as possible.  Joe Goreleski share these tips – and many others – on this information-packed page.  Definitely a good read for up and coming veneer users.

The segmented turner

If you turn pieces on your lathe, you know that you can make some gorgeous looking pieces from a single piece of wood. But, if you want to add more visual interest while using up smaller pieces of wood, you should check out segmented turnings.

By gluing up these smaller bits of wood, you can create pieces with tremendous visual interest. The process is quite simple to accomplish, but it takes some care to get the smaller pieces lined up and arranged properly so the final piece is just as you planned it to be.

This site serves as an excellent jumping-off point, offering segmented turning tips, plans and links to other sites featuring more segmented turning advice. Why not take it for a spin yourself?