CNC steps aside for some good ol' sawdust making.

I'm currently working on a corner bench for our dining room. There's a lot of plywood to cut, so I temporarily removed the cnc stuff so I could use my radial arm saw. I made this video to show it still works as a saw and comes in handy when I need to crosscut a bunch of boards between 12 and 17 inches wide.

Shopsmith Hack #1: Tapping Straight Holes

Today I posted the first of a series of videos on getting more out of your Shopsmith:




I love my early 80's vintage Mark V Shopsmith. I bought it on Craig's List years ago, and it has made woodworking in my small space possible ever since.  This is a trick I use to make sure I'm tapping straight into holes.  This time, I'm not actually working with wood, but threaded holes are elements of all sorts of custom tools and fixtures, which I use for woodwork.
If you like such workshop ideas and tips, don't forget to follow and share!

December 12 update: I posted these instructions to instructables.com.

Round Up Those TV Trays!

The latest project from Chip's Wood Shop featured on instructables.com is a storage caddy for folding TV trays.

Years ago I got these trays on Fathers Day, but until last year, they were stacked against things in the garage, which was not convenient for retrieving them, or for using the garage.

This project used a lot of different tools, but wasn't very hard to make from old oak floor boards and wood screws.

The nice people at instructables.com have yet again featured my post on their workshop page.

If you like such woodworking ideas and tips, don't forget to follow and share!

Kid-Safe Wall-Mounted Hooks

Chip's Wood Shop's latest project is featured on instructables.com.

This week I posted a design for a wall hanger with kid-friendly hooks for baskets to hold shoes, etc.

The nice people at instructables.com have yet again featured my post on their workshop page.

If you like such woodworking ideas and tips, don't forget to follow and share!

Featured on instructables.com: Woodworking Element #1- Wheels

This week, I posted another instructable on a super-simple subject: making wooden wheels with a hole saw.

I posted this one, like my previous instructable on drilling perpendicular holes, so I can refer to it in the future for other projects I have up my sleeve.

The nice people at instructables.com have yet again featured my post on their workshop page.

If you like such woodworking ideas and tips, don't forget to follow and share!

Getting the Angle Right With a Power Drill - Chip's Wood Shop's Latest Featured Instructable

Please check out my latest instructable at http://www.instructables.com/id/Getting-the-Angle-Right-With-a-Power-Drill/.

I show a quick and easy way to drill perpendicular holes with a hand-held power drill.  It's especially useful when you want to drill holes in a wall or ceiling.

If you like such woodworking ideas and tips, don't forget to follow and share!

Featured on the Workshop page- Mini-Vise in Minutes

Once again, I'm honored to have an instructable featured on the Workshop page of instructables.com today!



This time, I posted a very simple project to make a mini vise for holding small work on the CNC router, or to use free-hand, keeping your hands away from the moving parts.

This simple, low-profile vise was made 100% from material I had lying around the garage.  So far, I like using it so much I decided to make it the subject of my latest post.

October 16, 2016 update:
This instructable went out in today's staff picks, pushing it to become the most-viewed of my instructables to date!

CNC-Engraved Wood Plaque

For my wife's birthday, I made this sign for our wall to complement an arrangement of family photos. I used the same method I described in detail in this instructable.

The plaque is made from a single poplar board. I found that it worked very well to spray paint the board black before engraving it.

After engraving, I used a number one brush to paint in the grooves.

Basic CNC Engraving with Open Source Software

Chip's Wood Shop's second Instructable is born!

Basic CNC Router Engraving with Open Source Software

This instructable includes a video and written instructions so if you miss something, you don't have to pause and back up, just watch all the way through to get the idea, then follow the text and figures in the instructable as you go.

September 30 update- this instructable is now featured on the workshop page! http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/category-workshop/

Air Tool Cart with Countertop

Sept 13, 2016
I have an inexpensive tool cart, which has my air tools in a drawer. I modified it to fit my small air compressor underneath and a hose reel on the side.  In the tray on top, I was collecting a lot of miscellaneous junk.  I have wanted a hard flat surface to align and measure things. I had some leftover granite countertop, so I cut it to fit in the tray. I built it up underneath with wood and leveled it (more or less) with shims so the granite top is slightly above the rim of the tray.

Let's see how it goes, and I'll post an update.  So far I like that it's easy to clean off when I'm done working on something messy and it's not so tempting to collect junk on it.

May 15, 2018

It's been working great for the last 2.5 years, but I was wrong about one thing: it is still tempting to collect junk on it!  I cut an extra piece of granite to fill in the end where my first piece was short.  It is handy to roll the cart out in the driveway when I need my air tools to work on the car (since my garage is full of woodshop and "future projects".  All I need to do is pull out my extension cord to reach it.

 

Chip's Wood Shop Featured on Instructables Home Page!

Chip's Wood Shop is featured today on Instructables.com!

I'm honored to make the list of new instructables featured on the home page!

Chip's Wood Shop's first Instructable!