Gene Howe Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) Some of us here on TPWW frequent the Router Forums, so the name bobj3 will be familiar. Sadly, Bob passed away recently. Bob was famous for his jigs and time and money saving tricks. In his honor, a fella over there started a thread for what he calls "woodworking hacks". I hope he doesn't mind if we start a similar thread here. And, for those of you who read and post over there, I hope you don't find this thread redundant. Besides, with all the wonderful woodworkers here, I'm sure we'll have many novel ideas to share. I'll start the ball rolling with one of my favorites. When planing long stock, I used to place a roller stand at the infeed and outfeed sides of my planer. Adjusting them perfectly was time consuming and often inaccurately done. So, while perusing material in Lowes, I spied their Melamine coated pre cut shelving and had an epiphany. Brought home a length, stuck it through the planer, added a stop on the underside and retired the roller stands. Please jump right in with some of your neat tricks and jigs. Edited October 26, 2016 by Gene Howe PeteM and John Moody 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips N Dust Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Do you have a picture of this Gene? I think I am following what you are saying Ron Dudelston and Harry Brink 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted October 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 No picture, sorry. It's 7' long and there's about 3' in front of the cutters, so maybe a foot beyond the front table. The shelf is 12" wide so a good fit for the DeWalt. Chips N Dust and Dadio 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 7 minutes ago, Gene Howe said: No picture, sorry. It's 7' long and there's about 3' in front of the cutters, so maybe a foot beyond the front table. The shelf is 12" wide so a good fit for the DeWalt. I remember seeing that somewhere and did the same thing. you loose 3/4" height adjustment, so have to take that into account, but doesn't matter in most cases. It does solve any snipe problems too. The only down side is that you have to have enough room in the shop for the extension. Good tip Gene, Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmealy Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 I recently read a neat technique* in a Tommy Mac book. It's on how to cut compound angles without relying on trig functions. This he used on a hopper tray like you'd use for a serving tray, tool tray or such. Now this is not for mitered corners, but for corners that you are going to butt, rabbet, or dovetail. Away from home at the moment so I'll try to describe without photos. 1. Set your tilt angle. I chose 15 degrees for my trial. 2. Rip the edges of your sides at this angle. Be sure to make a parallegram, not a trapezoid. 3. Make a "magic block" Grab a piece of scrap, 2x2x8 or bigger. Bevel rip all 4 sides. Your result should look like the "hollow" of the tray. 4. Now reset the table saw tilt angle. Resting the magic block on one edge, adjust the tilt angle of the blade to be flush with the adjacent beveled edge. 5. Using the same magic block flush on the saw blade, adjust the miter angle to be flush with the edge of the block. You will want to put a piece of wood as a miter gauge extension. 6. Cut one end of each side with the miter gauge on the right side of the blade. There's not a good way to describe which side to put on the table other than to look at the piece and decide which way the angle needs to go,. IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHICH EDGE YOU PUT NEXT TO THE MITER GAUGE. 7. If you are doing rabbeting, this is the time to do the rabbet on two of the corners (long side boards) 8. Once all the cuts are made on the right side of the blade, without changing the tilt or miter angles, move the miter gauge to the left side of the blade. Make the other end cut. To do this, put the opposite face on the table. It helps to put an x on the wood on the up side on the right and another x on the opposite side on the other end. 8. Make all your cuts on the left side of the blade as described. It helps to have a stop and do opposite sites against the stop. If you are doing rabbeting, do them on this side of the long boards, too. Now you should have well-fitting joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Awhile back I needed some 1/8" buttons for plugs. This is the jig I made to cut them from 3/4" dowel stock. Herb HARO50, Grandpadave52, DuckSoup and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAB Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 some sound advice i heard long ago: before you learn the tricks of the trade, learn the trade. there are no shortcuts to good work. Nickp, HARO50 and Cal 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted October 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 8 minutes ago, DAB said: some sound advice i heard long ago: before you learn the tricks of the trade, learn the trade. there are no shortcuts to good work. Absolutely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Made this adjustable and extendable TS Mitre Gauge Fence. The fence is positioned via the tracks on the back . There is an adjustable stop on top of the fence also mounted on track. The extension mounts in a slot cut in the 2 pieces of the fence before joining. Also placed sandpaper on the front to keep wood from sliding. Dadio, Grandpadave52 and HARO50 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven newman Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Cheap "Speed Square".. Was designed to fit a DeWalt Jobsite saw......can be used just about anywhere, as a rip fence for those saws ( I use a circular saw) Can be used as a crosscut guide. It can be clamped to a board to guide a saw, or a router.. That is a hardwood cleat, set at 90 degrees to the long edge 3 pieces of scrap and a handful of screws. Accurate? As accurate as YOU can make it. Too tall of a fence? switch out to a shorter one,.....not tall enough, switch out to a taller one. Maybe someday, I'll add a layer of slick plastic...... I mostly use this to get square crosscuts or rips on wide boards. tip: use the "Factory Edge" at a corner of the plywood sheet. I made mine as a right triangle, for weight. You can always add a hole to use as a hanger point on the wall. HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmealy Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 To paraphrase George Poyla, "What is the difference between a technique and a trick? A technique is a trick that you use more than once." Cal, Dadio, Grandpadave52 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmealy Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 2 hours ago, Dadio said: Awhile back I needed some 1/8" buttons for plugs. This is the jig I made to cut them from 3/4" dowel stock. Herb It also helps if you put some masking tape over the cut end to keep from wobbling, especially if you are doing plug cutting and have a whole row of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 4 minutes ago, kmealy said: It also helps if you put some masking tape over the cut end to keep from wobbling, especially if you are doing plug cutting and have a whole row of them. Could you please elaborate? I am not quite clear on that. Thanks, Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 5 hours ago, Gene Howe said: In his honor, a fella over there started a thread for what he calls "woodworking hacks". I hope he doesn't mind if we start a similar thread here. Great idea Gene...rather than a thread, would this topic warrant enough activity to support it's own Forum topic? Seems there was something similar on the former Wood site...Shop Tips, Techniques & ???? I was a longtime subscriber to Shop Notes before it "died" which I enjoyed. Still get the weekly e-Tips from Woodsmith...Just a thought before I have to be re-charged. Don't expect much more from me today though. Dadio 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred W. Hargis Jr Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Is that particular Bob the one from Router Workshop show (Rosendahl)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 @Gerald; Sweet miter gauge enhancements. Got any more pictures of it I can steal ideas from, 'er admire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Here is another one. A year or so ago, some company had a sale on Forstner bit sets at a very reasonable price. Once in awhile I need a larger size for one hole,then not need it for awhile and usually that bit cost as much as this set. So after I got them, I found that when I chucked it up it was not running true. Upon examination I found the hex tangs were rough forged and the rest was ground. I tried to chuck them up by turning the bit one flat spot at a time on the tang until I found the "sweet" spot that ran true. Then I marked the shank with a felt pen and marked the chuck to correspond. I did this to each bit referencing them to the same mark on the chuck and got all of them to run true, so When I pick a bit I can just chuck it up and start drilling. The bits might be cheap ones, but they cut clean and are sharp. Maybe not production, but work for what I do. Herb HARO50 and Grandpadave52 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chips N Dust Posted October 26, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 You know the 2-prong plug on certain power tool cords? I got tired of having to look really hard at the plug to see which prong was the longer one so I took a paint pen and lined the plug up with the receptacle and marked the side of the plug as if the paint pen mark WAS the third prong. Now I grab the plug and quickly see if the mark is up or down and turn the plug accordingly to match the receptacle ( I have all of my receptacles with the grounding prong hole down). Easy Peasy HandyDan, Grandpadave52, Dadio and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) Kelly now you got me wondering again on which way the ground prong should be. I am going to start a thread for a discussion. Herb Did it just now Edited October 26, 2016 by Dadio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadio Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) Looks like it posted twice. Edited October 26, 2016 by Dadio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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