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Ten Tips For Your Woodworking Machines

1. Features you might not want when buying a jigsaw

Some jigsaws (also known as scroll saws) allow you to steer the blade, but you may find that this feature is unnecessary. Cutting something is hard enough without trying to steer it as well! Sometimes simplicity has its advantages. There are also cordless jigsaws, but these aren't as powerful as the corded variety and you may want to stay clear until such times as battery technology improves.

2. Features you do want when buying a jigsaw

When buying a jigsaw you don't want much more than two inches of depth of cut, as beyond this you will have problems with the blades bending and causing wonky cuts. Additionally you might want to cut a little shy of where you want and use a sander to bring the wood down to the line

3. Variable speed Jigsaws

The variable speed of higher end jigsaws isn't just limited to cutting metal, but can be helpful for your more intricate cuts.

4. What to consider when buying a cordless drill

When choosing a cordless drill you want the most powerful battery and the longest battery life you can afford. You also want one that has a reversible motor and is dual speed.

5. Drilling with paddle bits

When drilling with these, bear in mind that they can occasionally catch causing heavy torque to be transferred up the drill and into your wrist. Hold the drill more firmly than usual! (You don't want to lose productivity while nursing a sprained wrist now do you?)

6. Why you need a random orbital sander

Utilizing a sanding disc, a random orbital sander will sand down a surface while leaving much fewer marks than other types of sanders. This is due to the random action - the sum of all the movements cancels out so the surface is worn down very evenly. Palm sanders and belt sanders tend to leave marks.

Tips for Using your random orbital sander: Guide your movements along the grain, and never stop in the one spot or you risk leaving a mark.

7. What to consider when buying a ridgid orbital sander

When buying a random orbital sander you need dust collection for a start. Also make sure the unit is well balanced and comfortable. There's nothing worse than sanding with a tool that feels uncomfortable.

8. Dust collection

You need a vacuum unit of some kind to clear up dust, because there's going to be a lot of that lying around. A good portable dust extraction system is going to have a very high air flow (measured in cubic feet per minute), a portable base with a handle to make it easy to move around - after all it's going to be moved around all over the place. Also look for an advanced filtering system to make sure that little of the dust your sucking up sneaks back out. A long cable is a another good idea.

9. Spring clamps

Stock up on your spring clamps. You're going to need them! That can be used for so many different purposes, from clamping while you glue things to holding wood in place while you nail it. You can't go wrong. Don't however use them when you need a clamp, or else you could be putting yourself at risk.

10. Biscuit joining

Don't use a router for biscuit joining slot-cutting. Firstly it's going to be hard to cut it perfectly using a router, and being so close to the edge of the piece of wood isn't going to leave you much room for error should your grip slip. Secondly, the biscuit joiner is a much safer method of doing the same thing, as the blade is housed entirely within the unit until the critical moment.