Woodworking Tip of The Week - Outfeed Roller

Ripping long boards or panels on the table saw can be difficultwhen you're working alone. You usually need to find a friend to help you to get the job done safely. A good outfeed support can solve this problem. And you don't need to spend a lot to meet your needs.

The outfeed roller shown in the photo is simple and inexpensive to build. And, as you can see in the drawing, all it takes is some scrap lumber, a short length of PVC pipe, a dowel, and a few screws.

The roller is designed to be clamped firmly to a solid support, like the sawhorse shown in the photo. This way, once it's set up, the outfeed roller stays in securely place, and you won't need to worry about it falling over or shifting out of position.

Have a nice weekend,

Phil Huber
Editor, ShopNotes

Woodworking Tip of The Week - Two Tips for Installing Hinges

Installing a door on its hinges can be one of the trickiest parts of building a cabinet. Here are a couple tips I've used in the past to help install a cabinet door with less hassle.

Steel Woodscrews

During the installation process, I often end up putting on and taking off the door a few times. And one added frustration I try to avoid is breaking one of the screws.
So until I'm satisfied with the fit of the door, I only put one screw in each leaf, as shown in the photo. And instead of brass screws, I temporarily substitute steel screws, since they're less likely to break.

Finally, when it's time to add the other screws, I run steel screws in and out of the pilot holes first. This way, the steel screws cut the threads for the brass screws.

Installing Hinges

If a hinge mortise is cut too deep, there may not be enough of a gap between the door and the cabinet. As you can see in the photo at right, a quick fix for this is to add a paper or thin cardboard shim.

A shim also comes in handy if the gap between the door and the cabinet tapers from top to bottom. This time, though, you'll only shim one of the mortises.

Good Woodworking,
Ted Raife

Editor, Woodsmith

Woodworking Tip of The Week - Push Block

At first glance, the push block in the photo at right appears to be rather simple. But don’t let its appearance fool you. The right push block not only makes the work safer, it also improves the quality of your work.
One thing I like about the push block shown in the photo is the “high-mounted” comfortable position of the handle. It keeps your fingers well above and away from the spinning saw blade.
Best of all, you don’t sacrifice any control. The forward sweep of the handle lets you place constant downward pressure on the work-piece for a steady, controlled feed into the saw blade.

As you might expect, the body and cleat are going to get chewed up after you pass them overthe blade a number of times. So this push block is designed with replaceable parts. All you need to do is flip the body or cleat over when you need a new edge or simply replace them with new ones. Then you can quickly attach the handle with a screw and get back to work again.

Have a nice weekend,
Phil Huber

Editor, ShopNotes