Summer is the season you’re most likely to refinish outdoor trim, door frames, window sashes and finickity woodwork of all kinds, and detail sanders are tools I’ve come to rely on for this kind of work. Also called multitools these days because they can also cut and grind, detail sanders are not for stripping back large expanses of bare wood.
Continue ReadingQ&A: How Can I Dispose of Shavings From My Planer?
Q: I recently bought a benchtop wood planer and have been happily generating bags and bags of sawdust in my workshop. Trouble is, I just found out that my municipality doesn’t accept sawdust as garbage. How can I dispose of […]
Continue ReadingWOODWORKING TOOLS: Three Pieces of Essential Gear You’ll Love
Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man, shares his three essential woodworking hand tools.
Continue ReadingSOLAR GENERATORS: Build-It-Yourself Plans Beat Ready-Made
Have you ever heard about solar generators? They’re an up-and-coming portable energy technology that lets you make modest amounts of electricity without connection to the utility grid and without burning any fuel or making any noise.
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AMISH CARPENTERS & CORDLESS TOOLS
Cordless tools have been at the leading edge of the building scene for decades, but not everyone who embraces cordless tools are leading edge people. Take the Amish for instance. Although they call themselves “the plain people”, they dress in […]
Continue ReadingGREAT PLIERS: Why IRWIN GrooveLocks Are My Favourite
UPDATED 8Jun2018: In theory, I suppose it’s possible to live without tools in your life, but why would you want to? So many of today’s home maintenance and fix-up jobs are a snap to complete with just a few basics, […]
Continue ReadingTHICKNESS PLANERS: Tips for Choosing & Using One
Steve Maxwell, Canada’s Handiest Man and a tool master, discusses the thickness planers woodworking power tool.
Continue ReadingSANDING TRIM: An Easier & Much Better Way
Watch and learn how a simple attachment for your drill press or drill can make a big difference in the speed and success of sanding trim. It’s surprising what this tool can do.
Continue ReadingBUILDING A TABLETOP: Tricks for Getting It Really Right
Building a table is one of the most deceptively simple woodworking projects going. What could be easier than gluing up a few boards and applying a finish, right? But reality is often surprising, because building a top for that table […]
Continue ReadingFORGING STEEL: Working With Iron, Hammer & Anvil
Forging metal is not a mainstream hobby, and it never will be. That said, there are still thousands of people with a little bit of garage space and hidden talents that could be used to create beautiful and useful things with […]
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