Unfinished wood, woodcraft and more

I carve a lot of spoons. Most of the post-bandsaw shaping takes place with the work secured in my bench vise. However, sometimes I need more positioning  exibility. It turns out that a spreader bar clamp is just the thing. You can remove its reversible jaw in order to slip the bar through a standard  "-dia. dog hole. Replacing the jaw in its normal orientation— but below the benchtop—then creates a very e ective bench hold- down. It can be operated with one hand so I can quickly and easily reposition a workpiece as needed to  nish shaping and smoothing it. —Bob Poling, Parkersburg, West Virginia No-spin dowel sawing Most woodworkers know that crosscutting dowels on a miter saw can be dicey because the blade can grab the piece and spin it out of your hands. To prevent this, you can secure the piece in a sandpaper-lined wooden V-cradle, or temporarily a x self-adhesive sandpaper to your fence and table. However, I’ve found that the quickest approach is to simply...

Dressing bandsaw, guide blocks I replaced my handsaw's steel guide blocks with graphite·impregnated phenolic blocks (Cool Blocks). For accurate operation, the blocks' faces should be routinely dressed to remove regular wear. I tried freehand filing and sanding, but had a hard time keeping the ends square with the edges. To solve the problem, I made this simple jig. It's a 1j.)( 2 )( 6H scrap of hardwood, with a notch sawn in the end to snugly accommodate a guide block. A 1/8-thick end-strip screwed to the scrap secures the guide block in place. (If necessary for a snug fit, wrap the block with masking tape.) To smooth and square the blocks, position them in the jig so that they project just a bit from the bottom and rub the whole thing over ISO-grit and 220-grit sandpaper until the ends are flush with the bottom of the Jig, It's best to do this on a dead-flat surface, like a saw or jointer table. To dress guide blocks with a 45° face. I bevel-cut the opposite e...