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Shop Projects

DW735 Helical Head Upgrade
Installing the FindBuyTool Helical Planer Head to upgrade my planer. I wish I could have done this years ago
Dust Pipe Rethink
I decided that I actually had TOO MUCH dust collector piping, and got rid of some, and replaced others with a Shop Vac system
Helical Head Jointer Upgrade
Instead of replacing my jointer, which was otherwise fine; I upgraded it by replacing the cutter head with a helical cutter head with replaceable carbide knives.

The Cheapest 1x30 Sander
This is the cheapest 1x30 Belt/Strip sander that I could find, in Ontario, in late 2022. Let's check it out
Arbor Nut Catching Experiment
I want to prevent the arbor nut from dropping into the Dust Collector pipe when I drop it. Let's Try Magnets!
How I Apply Polyurethane To Cherry
A Deep Dive into my foam brush finishing method.

Parallel Clamp Rack
Simple build to improve shop storage of parallel clamps
Wes Hamstra Shop Tour
Visiting the dream shop of another woodworker
LED Shop Lighting Upgrade
No More DIY? Found some great lights to improve the dark end of my shop.

Arrow PT50
First impressions of this pneumatic stapler -- can it handle hard maple!?
You NEED a Pozidriv screwdriver
(IMHO: If you are building an Ikea kitchen)
Cherry Finish Test
Checking Oil-Modified Polyurethane with Shellac and Pre-Stain Conditioner in various combinations.

Easy Plywood Bench Top
The Ugly Bench Top had go. Easy DIY plywood benchtop build
Table Saw Splitter
A free safety mod for my table saw. Try it on yours!
Tablesaw Fence Tape
Quick Shop upgrade; Replacing a worn out Tablesaw Fence Tape.

Stanley Belt Sander teardown
Trying to chase down a squeal in a 40-year old Stanley Belt Sander
Long Reach C-Clamps
Easy to make, handy in the shop. All the cool woodworkers have them!
The BEST Tape Measure
Let me tell you why this is the best type of measuring tape for shop use!

Improving The Bucket Cyclone
The cyclone works great, but needs better suction. A few almost free tweeks make the difference.
Cordless Drill Shootout!
Having fun comparing cordless drills with 'cordless' drills
Tool Bag Organizer
A simple and easy-to-build wooden insert to bring order to your grab-and-go toolkit

A Board With A Hole
A tour of my cheap and simple homemade router tables
LED strip lighting revisited
I have a better solution for using these LEDs strips as regular lights
Torx VS Robertson
First Impressions: Can the Torx Screw provide competition for the mighty Robertson?

LED Lighting Experiment
Just how bright are those LED strip lights? Can they be used as regular lighting?
DIY bucket cyclone separator
Experimenting with a cheap and easy method to add a cyclone pre-separator to my shopvac
Simple Shop Vac Fix
It sounded like it was about to break, but the fix turned out to be easy. Don't be afraid to take things apart!

Worst job in my shop
A quick simple shop tip to make this as painless as possible. (Still the worst job!)
Small Drawer Lock Joint
Another way of making drawers with one router bit and one router table setup.
Dust Collector Expansion
Extending my DC system across the shop. Maximum suction achieved!

Fixing My Tablesaw Stand
Tearing down, repairing, and rebuilding my mobile tablesaw workstation.
Fliptop Stand: Tour and Teardown
A Tour and Teardown of my fliptop planer stand. Fit two tools in the space of one!
Disc Sander Build
An experiment in building a 12inch disc sander from a surplus furnace motor and other free/scrap parts

Bandsaw To The Basement
A small photo album of moving a large tool to a basement shop.
Mobile Tablesaw Workstand
A Modular Mobile Workstation for your Tablesaw that does NOT require you to dismantle or modify your saw, and adds tons of storage to your shop.
Flip Top Tool Stand
Updated for 2014 -- Fit two tools in the space of one.

Tool Tote Organizer
Building a simple tray to securely organize and hold my jobsite tools in a canvas tote bag.
Aging Cherry With Lye
A finishing experiment, using Lye to accelerate the natural darkening of Cherry that comes with time.
Dado Strategy
An out of the ordinary project gives a chance to look at construction methods that makes quick work of a lot of dados.

Building the Woodgears Box Joint Jig
A detailed photo essay on building this well engineered jig
Multi-Tip Screwdrivers
Take a look at several of these useful tools.
dw735 planer: blade changing assistant
A quick and simple homemade tool to make changing the blades much easier.

Spray Foam Insulation Kit
A photo essay on using a DIY Spray foam insulation kit.
Bandsaw Storage: Proof of Concept
Find some needed storage inside the open framed metal base.
Disposable Router Table
Not literally disposable, but quick, simple, and CHEAP.

Tool Cabinet
Definitely a work in progress...
Workbench Drawers
Adding a cabinet with drawers to my workbench
Workbench
The story of my workbench: A workbench building diary.

1999 Michigalootapalooza
September 1999 'Galoot' gathering to make Shaker boxes