Woodworking Machinery & Equipment
How to Save Money!

What is the best way to use woodworking machinery? Will you save time by learning the right way?

Can you use woodworking equipment to do a variety of jobs? Why spend money needlessly?

You can click on a link for tips and/or more information in most of the woodworking machinery sections.

Let's try to answer your questions:

Table Saw - an Important Woodworking Machinery

You can do nice rip cuts with a quality table saw. You can do crosscuts as well. A table saw can cut bevels or miters. Some woodworkers do resawing with the table saw. I prefer the Bandsaw.

I think it prudent to have a good splitter for your table saw. It tends to prevent kickback. A Custom Blade-guard can protect you as well as collect wood dust.

The picture shows both together and the modified Delta splitter by itself. This is necessary when cutting boards less than 3" wide.

Table Saw Push Stick or Push Shoe?
This Is an Important Concept for Woodworking Machinery.

I use a Push Shoe on cuts less than 6" wide. My favorite keeps your hands high and away from the blade.

Table Saw Outfeed Table - a Helpful Accessory for Woodworking Machinery

Large boards such as a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood are hard to cut, especially for a small person. An Outfeed Table along with good technique will help. If you stand toward the outside of the board and push toward the fence, quality cuts are possible.

Of course, you can always cut large boards down to size with a circular saw. Then use your table saw to square them up.
You can get the Outfeed Table Plans in the Plans Section.

Miter Gauge Enhancement - a Neat Woodworking Machinery Trick

For woodworking machinery help, you can easily enhance your miter gauge. A sub-fence with a sandpaper face provides extra stability as well as exact cuts. The details for this enhancement are in the Miter Gauge Template Page.

See More Table Saw Tips, a Scary Experience, and More Information on woodworking machinery!

Router - an Excellent Piece of Woodworking Machinery!

A router may become the most used woodworking machinery in your woodworking shop.
Here are some of the many things you can do:

Joint edges of boards.

A router bit is a lot cheaper than jointer knives.

A router table allows you to manage longer boards as well.
See How to Joint and How to Use a Router Table for more information.

Decorative cuts and multiple profiles are possible.

Joinery with a router is hard to beat.

Mortise & Tenon joints are precise. These are my favorites. If you make your own, they will be your favorites as well. See Mortise and Tenon Jigs.

Dovetail joints add a touch of class to your furniture drawers. A Quality Dovetail Jig gives you excellent results.

Rounding stock is simple.

Tongue & grooves are easy with the right technique.

See How to Use Router Table for a woodworking router technique that gives excellent results.

Wood Planer - a piece of Woodworking Machinery that Smoothes the Wood!

Normally, woodworkers use the Woodworking Thickness Planer for just that – thickness. You can even do thickness on edge, which I call width of board. Example: when you are making 52-56 Baby Crib spindles, you want all of the boards to be exactly 2" wide before adding a profile.

Why not use your wood planer to do this? That way you can use a template, and they will have the same profile.

Rough sawn oak is a lot cheaper than surfaced oak! Along with that, you can normally get 1" thickness out of 4/4 oak. When you buy pre-finished wood at a Super store, a 1 x 6 is actually ¾" x 5½". The true cost is $7.50 per board foot versus $2.25/board ft for rough sawn oak.

It won't take you long to pay for a quality planer. In addition, your work will look a lot nicer!
What a great idea to enhance your woodworking machinery use!

Wood Planer Tips helps you get the most from your planer. Even how to square cupped boards. I include pictures and written technique to show you how.

Woodworking Bandsaw – A versatile piece of woodworking machinery!

A bandsaw gives you versatility in your shop. With the proper jigs, you can cut circles and duplicate patterns. You can use it to cutout waste. Example: when making baby crib spindles, you cut out the waste on each side of the spindle's ends. Then you use a template for final routing. By cutting out the waste, you are saving your router bit from excess wear. Longer bit life saves you money.

Using your bandsaw for custom thickness boards is another great use. I have a entire page to explain this process: How to Resaw with Your Bandsaw

Once you use this technique, you will save a lot of money!

Miter Saw - woodworking machinery for compound cuts.

A sliding compound Miter Saw can make precise 90-degree cuts. It can take an 8" wide board and cut it down to manageable size. Mine can take a 10" wide board, but I don't feel comfortable at that width.

If you use a stop on a long board that serves as an auxiliary "fence", you can cut each board to the same length.

The Miter Saw can make beveled angle cuts. It will cut 45-degree angles with ease. These are great for mitered corners.

Random Orbital Sander - a woodworking machinery necessity.

Why use a Random Orbital Sander? Which one gives you a smooth finish?

You want a well-balanced sander. It should feel comfortable in your hand. A sander with excessive vibration causes fatigue. Included are tips for your use.

Circular Saw - a Handy Piece of Woodworking Machinery

Sheet goods are hard to control. A 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood is cumbersome. A quality circular saw cuts the plywood down to size.

The difficulty in using a straightedge with a circular saw is the offset. A template solves the offset problem.

Here is an easy solution:
How to Make a Circular Saw Template to Solve the Offset Problem

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