How to Perfectly Assemble Mitre Joints

In my last Craftsy blog post, I covered techniques to cut perfect mitres. If you've ever made a mitred joint before, you probably discovered that cutting them accurately can be finicky, but assembling them was downright agonizing. However, with a couple of tricks and the right clamping tools on hand, and some practice, assembling mitres … Continue reading How to Perfectly Assemble Mitre Joints

Assembling Puzzle Table

After a week making the inside surfaces glossy and blue, I was back to making sawdust. I mitred the ends of the panels with my sliding table saw, using a stop block to ensure that they were all the same length. I appreciated the fact that my carefully-painted surfaces were able to just sit on the … Continue reading Assembling Puzzle Table

Unforeseen Challenges

After a day of work at Lee Valley Tools, I came home and found myself in my shop with a bit of time. I had a simple project already started and only a little more work remained before assembly. I finished cutting the 6mm mortises with my Festool Domino Joiner and began the glue-up, which … Continue reading Unforeseen Challenges

Maple Trestle Table, Session 22 – Fitting and Joining the Table Top

On the morning of Sunday, April 15th, Morton and I exchanged ideas about trestle tables, spurred on by a recent sketch of a table on which he was working.  That got me yearning to build a trestle table. I documented my progress live on Twitter which was useful because each update had a time stamp so followers could … Continue reading Maple Trestle Table, Session 22 – Fitting and Joining the Table Top

Maple Trestle Table, Session 9 – Mortises the Slow Way (or Why I’m Buying a Domino XL)

On the morning of Sunday, April 15th, Morton and I exchanged ideas about trestle tables, spurred on by a recent sketch of a table on which he was working.  That got me yearning to build a trestle table. I documented my progress live on Twitter which was useful because each update had a time stamp so followers could … Continue reading Maple Trestle Table, Session 9 – Mortises the Slow Way (or Why I’m Buying a Domino XL)

More Adjustments on the Sliding Table Saw

Yesterday, I continued setting up my saw. First, I had a 7' power cord installed. With power to the saw, I performed the test run, ensuring that the saw started and ran smoothly in the right direction and stopped, and checking that the three off switches worked. There is one mushroom off switch under the … Continue reading More Adjustments on the Sliding Table Saw

Moving & Assembly of the Sliding Table Saw

Well, yesterday I had a chance to move my saw down to the shop. The weather had warmed up enough to dry up the ground sufficiently to allow the 5" diameter casters of my mobile base to roll over the grass. I spent an hour building a ramp over the stairs leading down to my … Continue reading Moving & Assembly of the Sliding Table Saw