I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to the tool I love to love – and hate.  This is my belt sander.  A Black and Decker homeowner’s model I picked up at a local Wal Mart about six years ago.

Before I go any further, yes, I am quite aware that I advertise myself as a hand tool enthusiast.  It also obviously has a tail that plugs into an outlet.  Many of you are also thinking that there is no place in the fine woodworker’s shop for one of these crude instruments of sound and dust.  Besides, it’s not even made by a ‘serious’ woodworking tool manufacturer.

It’s all true.  This bright orange baby (by the way, I believe it might be bright orange so motorists can avoid it when it’s pitched into a road) uses some of the most diminutive belts out there – 3″ x 18″.  Even it’s lousy dust bag doesn’t work any more.  I used to take the time to put it on the sander, but it developed a hole near the top zipper that just blows dust straight up into the air.  And, it’s a very hungry machine.  I affectionately call it the belt saw, because if you leave it on the work for too long, it digs out one heck of a divot in the wood.

So, why keep it?

Even in its total nastiness, it’s another one of those shop essentials I can’t seem to do without.  Just recently, I was working on my Christmas presents, I had to reach for it several times.  First when I was making the end grain cutting boards.

In my last post, I alluded to the fact that my milling and gluing operations need to become a little more exacting.  So, when I pulled them from the clamps, they were pretty uneven. So, I had to mosey down the street to the local Home Depot, where, much to my surprise, I discovered that Norton actually makes a line of sanding belts in that tiny size.  There were three grits to choose from – 50, 80 and 120, and I bought the two packs of all three grits.

While it did take the better part of a Saturday afternoon to grind the unevenness out of the boards, I knew it was much safer than trying to run the end grain boards through the planer.  With my iPod on under my hearing, breathing and eye protection, I grooved while my errors were erased totally, leaving a perfectly smooth board.  No mean feat, given that end grain is very tough stuff – making it an excellent choice for end grain cutting boards!

I changed grits to the 80, then finally to the 120 for those last very light passes, leaving just enough for me to sand out with the random orbit sander.

Later, when I tried out the Kehoe jig for a set of the photo bookends, the belt sander came out again.  I trimmed the dovetail splines as close to the work as I dared, and then used the belt sander to take them down flush with the board.

Are there better ways to accomplish these tasks?  Sure. I could get out with a block plane and use that.  But, for some reason, I seem to get better results using the belt sander for the heavy lifting and the hand tools for the fine work.

So, I’ll keep my belt sander.  For now.  It does what it does, but it does what it does pretty well.

But, I’m definitely keeping a wary eye on that tool!

The router is one of the most versatile tools in the shop.  Dovetails, mortises, tenons, decorative profiles, rabbets… the list goes on and on.

While they are extremely useful hand held, mounting them into a table dramatically expands their usefulness. I discovered this when I first bought a little bench top Skil router table for my tiny fixed-base Craftsman router.  Suddenly, I was cutting joints and profiles I never knew were possible.

Things have really changed since those early router experiments, but I still turn to my routers to do dozens of chores in my shop.  While my skill with a router has increased, so has my experience in dealing with router tables.

I’m gonna come right out and say it.  If I had the space, I would definitely build a full-blown all-the-bells-and-whistles router tables just like the one that Norm Abram built.  It would be a dedicated router station where I could do everything I would ever possibly need to. Unfortunately, in my two-car garage shop, space is at a premium, so a dedicated router station all by its lonesome is out.
The next option I considered – and built – was a table saw wing mounted router table.  It seems as if everyone who is space challenged in their shop has built or installed one, and they all seem to swear by it.  So, I went out to the local Home Depot and dipped into their scrap offcut bin.  Much to my surprise, there were two offcuts of melamine covered particleboard in the bin for a few bucks each.  So, I took ’em home, biscuited them together and with the help of a few piece of angle aluminum and some bolts, I was able to replace the right wing of my Ridgid saw.

There.  All of my router problems were solved.  Weren’t they?  Oh, sure, the router table takes up absolutely no new space in the shop – just the footprint already reserved for the table saw.  And, I can use the table saw fence to guide my work past the bit.  I even built a pair of router fences that secure to the slots in the rip fence in case I had to bury the bit behind the fence.  All seemed ideal…

But, then it happened.  I was routing a profile on the edge of a piece of oak to make molding for a project.  Basically, I would route this profile on each of the long edges of the board and then rip them free.  That’s when it hit me – how could I use the same rip fence for both operations?  I tried setting then resetting the fence for each operation, but the pieces never seemed to come out right.

That’s when I built my auxiliary router table.  Made from a sink cutout of Corian, this router table is designed to sit on a pair of sawhorses or to be clamped in the jaws of a Workmate.  Since this photo was taken, I built a fence based on a design in found in Danny Proulx’s book 50 Shop Made Jigs and Fixtures.  I even routed slots into the Corian for t-track so I could run the fence on the table.  And, in the event I ever need to bring my router table on the road, it’s ready to travel.

This setup works very well as a router table.  And maybe one day, I might consider removing the router table from my table saw’s wing.  But, since I went through all that work to begin with, I’ll just leave it there in case I ever need to use it again.

In the photos, you may have noticed that I have attached my Freud FT2000 router to a Rousseau router plate.  Permanently mounting a router base or a dedicated router to a router plate is one of the smartest ways to use a router table. This way, rather than trying to unscrew a router base from your hand held model and screwing it to a table, you can just pop the router out and mount it into another router table in mere seconds.  Sure, router plates tend to run about $40, but that cost is easily recouped after you realize just how much time it saves you.

Another important thing is that I never use a miter slot when working with a table mounted router.  Sure, they seem convenient.  However, unless you are using a self-squaring table saw style fence for your router setup, there’s a very good chance that it won’t be parallel to the fence.  What I do us use a backer push block to guide the workpiece along the fence. Not only do I get incredible control, the push block also prevents any blow-out on the back side of the work.

Hey, every shop really does need a router table.  Just take your time and carefully consider what you want to build or to buy before commiting to one.  And, if you move into a large enough shop, you’ll be certain to find plenty of space to build a proper router table to satisfy all your wishes.

Wanna turn your basic circular saw into a precision cutting machine?

Believe it or not, there is a way to get extreme precision with your circular saw for a small investment of some scrap sheet goods, screws and wood glue.  You can build one of these babies and use it to break down sheet goods with no hassle and minimal measurements.

So, how do you do it? (click on images for larger sized views)

Build yourself a Sawboard.  I found this plan on the Internet and decided I just had to build one for myself.  I have an 8 foot model, and wanted a shorter one for use on smaller pieces.  So, that’s what I built recently in my shop.

First of all, I took this scrap of B-C plywood lying around the shop.  It’s 4 feet long, and about 22 inches wide.  I ripped a 4 inch wide piece on my table saw and sanded the edges of what would become the top edge to prevent any splinters.

Next, if there is any bow in the pieces, put them so the bows cancel each other out and the sheets will lay flat once screwed together.  I put on a good bead of wood glue and used 3/4″ screws to hold the pieces together.  Now, you have to remember to keep this piece roughly centered on the bottom piece, and allow at least the distance from the edge of your circular saw base to the blade on both sides.  The precision comes from the next step.

Once you have the pieces screwed together, what you want to do is set the edge of your saw’s base against the fence and make a cut.  You will automatically have a guide that will be the exact distance between your saw’s base edge and the blade.  It’s genius!

To use the Sawboard, mark where you want the cut to begin and end on a peice of sheet stock.  It doesn’t matter if you want a straight cut or an angled one, because the saw will give you a perfect cut.  Clamp it down with the edge of the guide over the two marks and cut away.

If you clamp the Sawboard to the ‘keeper’ side of the cut, the jig actually presses down on the wood fibers, keeping them from lifting.  A pretty nifty idea.

To get the best out of the jig, just lay the piece you want to cut over a pair of wooden saw horses, and set the depth of the blade a little deeper than the thickness of the keeper and the jig so you barely score the top of the saw horses.

Simple and elegant.  I love it!

There are certain statements that are beyond refute.The sun rises in the east.  The only two things that are unavoidable are death and taxes.  Bread always lands butter-side down.

And, as most woodworkers will agree, you can never have too many clamps.

Here’s the arsenal that I work with on my shop-built rolling clamp rack. I have what I consider (especially given that I’ve seen other woodworker’s collections!) a pretty modest, yet fully functional setup.

This side I call the ‘short’ side of the rack – all of my frequently used short clamps are parked on this side.  From the top down, here’s what I have:

An assortment of handscrews.  Sure, they can be a pain in the rear to get aligned the right way, but these clamps will work when none other will do the job.  They can get a solid grip on angled pieces, and can also serve as a ‘kick stand’ for cabinet components when assembling them.

My 6″ Quick Grip clamps.  These babies are some of the most versitile ones in the shop.  Holding jigs, clamping small parts, breaking apart components (They switch to spreaders) and any one of dozens of other tasks.

Staying on that top rack, you’ll see some medium duty 4″ F-style clamps with the red heads.  Got them from Lee Valley and they are really nice little clamps when I need more pressure than the Quick Grips can offer.

Next, I have a clamp and edge guide.  I haven’t used this one much recently, but, when I need to cut or route a straight edge, that’s the one I look for.

Two 3/4″ pipe clamps.  I break these five footers out whenever I need a greater reach.  The pipes are threaded both ends, so I can use a coupler to get a 10 foot clamp if need be.  Also, these are great for squeezing an assembly square if it’s racked.

Down from there, I have my 12 inch Quick Grips, and a set of ultra-cheap discount F-style clamps.  None of the bars is straight, the heads slip and they don’t clamp all that well.  But, I can’t bring myself to throw them out, because they are the clamps I used when I started out.  Sentamental fool….

On the flip side, this is where the bigger clamps call home.  This is where I go when I need the muscle to glue up big projects.

From left to right, I’ll start with my first serious clamps.  These 36″ aluminum channel clamps were the first ones I purhchased to glue up larger assemblies. I like these because they are lightweight, give me tremendous pressure and are easy to use.  If you had to buy longer clamps for the first time, these are the ones you should get.

From there, we go to the 50″ Bessey K-Bodies.  These clamps are BUTTER.  Large clamping faces, robust clamping bars… what can’t these babies do?  Really nice for large assemblies.  They have become my first go-to clamps.

The next clamps I’m not 100% sure I like yet.  These are the aluminum assembly clamps that Lee Valley recently sold.  I’ve only used them once and didn’t really like the way they worked.  I’m sure all I have to do is get more practice with them….

And, of course, four 25″ Besseys… nice for putting together smaller projects.

The bucket at the bottom contains an assortment of band clamps, Rockler right angle clamping jigs, spring clamps and other assorted odds and ends.  I use them, but not for every application.

Where the A-Frame meets, I decked the area in and store my eight 24″ clamping cauls I cut out of common 2×4’s.  They are great for holding panels flat while the glue dries…

And, yes during large glue ups, I find myself thinking, “Ya know, this job would go easier if I had more clamps…”