Welcome to our Woodworking Tips Library!

We've created a Woodworking Tips Library here at Highland Woodworking to help you become a better woodworker and foster the joy of craftsmanship. The library contains a huge free collection of original articles on woodworking tips and techniques written to help woodworkers master both fundamental and advanced woodworking skills and techniques. Over the years, we have also published numerous woodworking editorials, woodworking advice from customers and woodworking how to videos.

Browse our comprehensive index of all woodworking tips & techniques at...
Woodworking Tips Map
You can also search our woodworking tips & techniques by topic...
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Each woodworking tip and article is available as a web link or as a printable document that can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat or any .pdf viewer.

WOODWORKING POWER TOOLS

Bandsaws & Bandsaw Blades

• Slicing Wood: A Practical Guide to Successful Resawing with your bandsaw
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Clean Machine: Bandsaw Dust Control that Works
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Coiling Bandsaw Blades
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Bandsaw Puzzle Cubes
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Leading You On: Feed Direction is the Key to Resawing
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Coplanar Bandsaw Wheels
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Taking a Flutter: Bandsaw Blade Vibration
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Resawing Treated Lumber: Demolition Derby
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• The Long and Short of It: Bandsaw Blade Length
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  

Wood Routers & Router Bits

• Installing Router Bits
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Tage Frid's Mortising Jig
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Routers Go Left!
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Avoiding Damage to Table-Mounted Routers
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Router and Drill Dowel Making Jig
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• The Infinite Oval: A Router Jig for Ovals and Circles
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Making It Plane: How to Flatten a Workbench with a Router
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Adjustable Router Table Mount
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Big Router Bits, Small Bases
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Using Router Collet Adapters
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Miter Guides for Router Tables
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Care and Sharpening of Router Bits
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Changing Speeds: Choosing Router RPM
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Leigh Template Guidebush System Selection Chart
  

Stationary Tools

• A Shop-Built Tablesaw Tenon Jig
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Understanding Snipe
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Setting Jointer Knives
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Tablesaw Cut-Off Stop Blocks
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• In Your Face: Tablesaw Dust Control
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Installing Tablesaw Blades
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Building a Sliding Table for Your Tablesaw
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Feather Boards
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  

WOODWORKING HAND TOOLS & WOODWORKING TIPS

Wood Finishing & Wood Sanding

• A Knock-Down Spray Booth for Non-Commercial, Home Use
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• A Beginner's Guide to Spray Finishing
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Fish-Eye Eliminator
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Mixing Shellac
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Wax Eloquent: Make Your Own Wax
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Life After Sandpaper
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Preserving Wood's Color
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Raising the Grain
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Spraying Orange Peel
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Spontaneous Combustion: Wood Finishing Without Flare
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Hand Rubbed Wood Finish
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Spraying Latex with HVLP
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Water Over Oil: Using Hydrocote on Stains
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Arti Water-Soluble Dyes Mixing Instructions
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  

Dust Control

• Small Shop Dust Collection Simplified
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• The Devil's in the Dust
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Shaker Felt Filter Bags for Dust Collectors
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Clean Machine: Bandsaw Dust Control that Works
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• In Your Face: Tablesaw Dust Control
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Shop Vacs vs. Dust Collectors
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  

Sharpening Woodworking Tools

• User's Guide to the Makita 9820-2 Sharpener
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Life After Sandpaper
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Sharpening #80 Cabinet Scrapers
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Cutting vs. Scraping
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Waterstone Sharpening
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Hollow Grinding: Necessity or Relic?
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• A Guide to Sharpening Chisels and Plane Irons
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Sharpening Forstner Bits
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Achieving Balance for your Stationary Bench Grinding Wheels
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Not Ready for Prime Time
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  

Woodworking Hand Tools & Shop Techniques

• Tuning Metal Bench Planes for the Rest of Us
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Life After Sandpaper
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Sharpening #80 Cabinet Scrapers
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Modifying Clifton Spoon Bits
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• A Guide to Sharpening Chisels and Plane Irons
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Fitting Clifton Plane Irons in Bailey Planes
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• The Stationary Biscuit Joiner: A Simple Jig for Productive Precision
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• When Biscuit Joints Go Bad
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Taming Wild Veneers
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Animal Glues
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Clamping Mitered Boxes: Another Tage Frid Solution
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Highland Woodworking's Tool List for a Basic Woodworking Shop
  
  
• Measuring Turning Tools
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Clamping Up
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Winding Sticks
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Perfectly Flat Planes
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  

Product & Kit Instructions

• Turn a Wood-Handled 4-in-1 Screwdriver
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Highland Woodworking's Rosewood Plane Handles
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Turn a Scratch Awl
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Instructions for Patternmakers Vise
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Mounting Quick-Release Vises
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  

Helpful Woodworking Formulas & Reference

• Helpful Woodworking Formulas & References
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Fractional Conversion Table
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Converting Linear to Board Feet
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Building a Steam Box
  (printable .pdf of this article)
  
  
• Standard Furniture Dimensions
  (printable .pdf of this article)