Workshop Knowledge

An examination of workshop humidity effects on wood and tools. Moisture content and seasonal changes analysis of what happens at different humidity levels.

This is a technical examination of grain reversal and tearout formation. Understand cutting mechanics in figured wood with this analysis of what happens when grain direction changes.

Workbench height calculations. We take a look at the wrist-drop method and thumb-knuckle measurements with this examination of what different heights produce for different tasks.

A technical examination of workshop dust collection performance. Understand CFM losses and static pressure with this detailed analysis of what happens in real shop conditions.

How softwood and hardwood affect cutting tools differently. And what grain direction and density do to blades, bits, and edges.

A comparison of router tables and handheld routers. Moving the tool versus moving the work changes everything from bit control to dust collection.

The differance between auger bits and spade bits drilling through joists and studs. Chip evacuation, torque, nail strikes, and what electricians and plumbers actually deal with drilling structural lumber.

What happens when a hand-cranked brace drills large holes compared to cordless drills. Torque delivery, hole quality, battery drain, and why some woodworkers reach for the 150-year-old tool.

Reciprocating blades vs rotating discs. Tearout patterns, blade deflection in thick stock, cutting speed differences, and why each saw struggles with certain cuts.

Horizontal blade action meets vertical cutting. Demolition power versus precision curves, vibration patterns, material thickness limits, and why contractors carry both.

When template routing bearings seize from dirt or damage, bearing-to-template friction preheats the bit body before the cutting edge even touches wood. Understand the dual friction sources in bearing-guided bits.

End grain routing severs individual wood fibers perpendicular to their length rather than splitting them, requiring more cutting force and generating more friction heat per square inch of contact.

Wood resin melts at cutting temperatures, flows into carbide micro-crevices, and hardens into built-up edges that crush fibers instead of cutting them. Explore how this creates a heat-generating feedback loop.

A 2-inch router bit spinning at 22,000 RPM has cutting edges moving at 115 mph. Discover why larger bits generate exponentially more friction heat than smaller ones at the same speed.

Moving a router too slowly keeps wood fibers in contact with hot carbide longer, building cumulative heat until charring begins. Understand the relationship between movement speed and thermal accumulation.

Phenolic resin in plywood glue contains hard particles that abrade carbide tips while melting onto cutting edges. Find out why plywood destroys router bits faster than solid wood.

Router bits burn wood when carbide edges generate friction heat faster than it dissipates. Explore the physics of feed rate, tip speed, material density, and why end grain scorches so easily.

Router planes cut flat-bottomed recesses to precise depths. The blade points downward and rides the surrounding surface while cutting the recess bottom.

Find out what makes hook and loop sanding attachments fail mid-job. We look at the reasons why your detail sander paper won't stay put.

Bevel-down blades bed at 45 degrees with chipbreakers. Bevel-up blades bed lower without chipbreakers. The orientation changes how you adjust cutting angle and what you sharpen.

A sharp blade angled in a metal body rides wood surfaces and removes thin layers. The sole acts as straightedge, the blade does the cutting, everything else supports those two jobs.

Ever noticed that your belt sander dust collection never works as well as promised. Workshop air reality, see what actually happens to all that fine dust.

Belt sander marking patterns explained. Find out what's causing those gouges, lines, and surface defects.

The chipbreaker sits 1/32 inch from the blade edge and forces wood shavings to curl sharply. That curl breaks fibers before they tear out ahead of the cutting edge.

A 14-inch sole bridges enough surface to straighten edges and flatten moderate panels. With two blade setups, one jack plane covers rough work through final smoothing.

Six inches long and 1.5 pounds creates a tool your palm can control completely. That compact geometry changes how the plane gets used compared to two-handed bench planes.

End grain cuts across fiber ends instead of along fiber length. A 37-degree blade slices those ends cleanly. A 45-degree blade pushes through them with more resistance.

The mouth opening controls how close wood fibers get supported before the blade cuts them. That distance determines whether figured grain tears or slices clean.

A 22-inch sole bridges surface variations that shorter planes follow. What happens when that length encounters twisted, cupped, or bowed lumber.

A hand plane's sole acts as a moving straightedge. Whether it bridges surface errors or follows them depends entirely on length relative to the error's span.

Hand-stitched rasps cut with random tooth patterns punched individually. Machine-cut rasps use uniform milled rows. The tooth formation determines cutting speed and surface finish.

Fret saw blade width, tooth count, and frame geometry. Why fret saws became the standard tool for clearing waste between dovetail pins and tails.

Dowel diameter affects glue surface area and mechanical resistance. Here's what happens when you scale up or down from standard sizes.

Dowel joints fail at predictable points: glue lines, misaligned holes, or the wood surrounding the dowel. Here's what actually breaks.

Marine plywood dulls saw blades twice as fast as standard plywood. Here's what phenolic resin does to your tools and when the premium makes sense from this workshop analysis.

Wet wood dulls blades faster, creates rust on exposed steel, and produces heavy sawdust that clogs systems. The high moisture content changes how saws cut and what happens to tools afterward.