Working With Power Tools
Unlock Your Tool's Power

"There's a lot to know." Were truer words ever said about the vast array and capability of today's power tools? Now renowned woodworker Paul Anthony and Fine Woodworking bring you the definitive guide to power tools -- all you need to know to choose, use, outfit and keep tools working their best!

If you're in the market you'll be happy to find that each tool's value and unique features are explored. If you want to ramp up the tools you already own you'll discover new ways to get more out of your old friends. And if you want to refine your techniques and advance your skills look no further. Expert advice will be yours on every page.

How to get the most clout from today's power tools:

• Fine Woodworking's best and timeliest power tool articles gathered together in one indispensable resource
• Includes often overlooked power tools
• Expert in-depth coverage of routers, tablesaws, drill presses and hollow-chisel mortisers, bandsaws, jointers, planers and shapers, scrollsaws, oscillating spindle sanders, circular saws, jig saws
• Step-by-step photos and instructions
• Wide-ranging special feature articles ... how to choose the right drill bit, master biscuit basics, soup up your 14 in. bandsaw, choose five smart router bits, tame power tool noise and workshop dust ... much more!
• By experts renowned for their proficiency with their tools of choice
• Deserves a place of honor on every workbench!

A word from the editor about Working with Power Tools...
"Today's top woodworkers share their techniques, tricks and approaches for choosing, using and tuning power tools to bring out the best of your woodworking talents. Whether you're new to the craft or on your fifth router, this book is bound to help vault you forward in the world of woodworking. More power to you!" -- Paul Anthony

Introduction:

Woodworkers in the 21st century are the luckiest ever. We have available to us a selection of power tools and machines that would have amazed our woodworking forbears a century or two ago. In addition to powerful high-tech tablesaws, jointers, and planers, we rely daily on electric drills, routers, jigsaws, sanders, and other portable power tools.

It's tempting to romanticize working wood in simpler times, quietly handplaning boards, cranking away at a bit and brace to drill holes, or leisurely cutting joints with handsaws and chisels. But the truth is, building furniture and cabinets solely with hand tools was hard, sweaty work. You can bet that woodworkers of the past would have jumped at the opportunity to power plane boards or cut joints with a tablesaw or router. If you think they wouldn't have traded in their sharkskin "sandpaper" for a random-orbit sander, then you are an incurable romantic indeed. Just like us, those guys were looking for the quickest, most accurate way to get the job done.

For all the power tools we have these days, though, we often don't use them to best advantage. They may not be tuned up properly or outfitted with the best bits or cutters. Or we may simply be handling the tool or workpiece incorrectly. Furthermore, many tools require jigs of some sort to perform specific operations. There's a lot to know.

Fortunately, you'll find much of what you need to know in this collection of expert advice culled from the pages of Fine Woodworking magazine. Here, some of today's top woodworkers share their techniques, tricks, and approaches for choosing, using, and tuning power tools to bring out the best of your woodworking talents. Regardless of whether you're new to the craft or are already on your fifth router, this book is bound to help vault you forward in the world of woodworking. More power to you!
--Paul Anthony, editor

Table of Contents:

Introduction 2

Section 1: Portable and Benchtop 4
Machines Biscuit Basics 5
Tony O'Malley

Choosing and Using a Scrollsaw 14
Paul Schürch

Oscillating Spindle Sanders 22
Bernie Maas

A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop? 25
Garrett Hack

Jigsaws in the Woodshop 32
Paul Anthony

Section 2: Routers 40
Mortising with a Router 41
Gary Rogowski

All about Router Bits 50
Jeff Greef

Template-Routing Basics 58
Pat Warner

No-Frills Router Table 65
Gary Rogowski

The Ultimate Router Table 71
John White

Five Smart Router Jigs 81
Yeung Chan

Section 3: Tablesaws 88
A Tablesaw Primer: Ripping and Crosscutting 89
Kelley Mehler

Tablesaw Tune-Up 98
Roland Johnson

Tablesaw Kickback 110
Garrett Hack

Tablesaw Splitters and Blade Covers 114
Kelley Mehler

A Tablesaw Sled for Precision Crosscutting 124
Garrett Hack

Safe Procedures at the Tablesaw 130
Howard LeWin

Taming Tearout on the Tablesaw 138
Steve Latta

One-Stop Cutting Station 143
Ken Picou

Section 4: Drill Presses and Hollow-Chisel Mortisers 148
Jigs for the Drill Press 149
Gary Rogowski

Best Practices for Drilling 155
Ernie Conover

Using a Hollow-Chisel Mortiser 160
John West

Choose the Right Drill Bit for the Job 167
Brian Boggs

Section 5: Bandsaws 175
Bandsaw Tune-Up 176
John White

Resawing on the Bandsaw 186
Ronald Volbrecht

All about Bandsaw Blades 194
Lonnie Bird

Soup Up Your 14-in. Bandsaw 203
John White

Section 6: Jointers, Planers, and Shapers 213
Jointer Savvy 214
Bernie Maas

Getting Peak Planer Performance 223
Robert Vaughn

The Jointer and Planer Are a Team 232
Gary Rogowski

Jointer Tune-Up 238
John White

How to Get Square, Stable Stock 246
Gary Rogowski

Jobs a Shaper Does Best 254
Lon Schleining

Section 7: Working with Machines 262
Taming Woodworking Noise 263
Jack Vernon

Dust Collection for the One-Man Shop 268
Anatole Burkin

Credits 278
Index 279

Soft-cover, 8-1/2 x 10-7/8 in., 288 pages, with 325 color photos, and 125 drawings
Published 2007

ISBN: 978-1-56158-872-5