I'd like to congratulate Arthur Burke for being the clear winner of our contest. Alan's project was an impressive kitchen countertop (actually 2) he made out of 2x6s. The work was exquisitely done, including a mitered corner that came out nice and tight. Arthur will be receiving the Worx Mini-Circular Saw that I used in the comparison test. Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest, either in posting your projects or voting with your likes. We got to see a lot of great projects, posted by various members of our community. I'm glad I didn't have to pick a favorite. Let's keep those projects rolling, and keep posting your pictures. They're an encouragement to others in our community, either in showing them they can do it too or giving them ideas for their own projects. Keep making comments and keep liking each other's posts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxdghfDHxUo About 10 days ago, we had a discussion start about Ryobi tools and whether they are good or not. This video was already in the works at that time, and I've been waiting until we finished editing and everything else needed, so that I could share it. I think Ryobi is a good brand for the home woodworker and I give several reasons why in this video.

Can anyone guess what I'm building here? I'll give you a hint; the part on top is actually the bottom and the part being glued up goes on top of it. Making it for a friend of my wife.

Seems like I've been making lots of jigs lately. This is a jig for repetitively cutting thin strips on the table saw, like what you'd need for making something bentwood. I know that most people use a bandsaw for this, but I actually get a smoother gluing surface cutting them on my table saw. The big danger in cutting such strips on the table saw is getting the strip trapped between the blade and the fence. With this setup, the thin strip being cut off is on the outboard side (to the right in the photo or the left when you're standing behind the saw). The jig makes it possible to repetitively position the fence for every cut, so as to get strips of a consistent thickness. As you can see in the photos, the jig is nothing more than a hinged piece of plywood, with a strip of wood that goes into the miter gauge slot to locate it. The real business end is the screw sticking up from the smaller, hinged part. This goes into a threaded insert allowing for precise adjustment. The nut acts as a locknut, so that vibration won't cause it to turn. To use the jig, set it in the miter slot, then adjust the screw so that the space between the screw head and the saw blade (the edge of the carbide teeth, no the plate) is the desired thickness. Lock the nut, so it can't move. Then place a piece of the material to be cut between that screw head and the fence, locking in the fence at that distance. With the thickness set, flip the hinged portion of the jig up, so that the board doesn't get caught between the jig and the fence, causing kickback. Then make your cut, cutting off a thin strip. Now, here's the great part. You can take the offcut, set it between the gauge and the fence again, readjusting the fence. before repeating the cut. This will render another piece, cut off to the exact same thickness. Cut as many as you need, readjusting every time, but don't allow the piece you're cutting off of to get too small, or it will chatter in the blade and might get caught in it.

I have been wanting to make some MAJOR changes to my shop layout to make it easier to use and more efficient. This is the first corner I have tackled .. my miter saw/lumber corner. Here are a few pics of before/after .. just excuse the sawdust in the after pics .. I had to use my miter saw without dust collection to get it built! Lol This is the before pic .. very disorganized with one large overhang wood storage and my blue lumber bin toward the back wall. Very hard to work with and I kept hitting my head on the overhang (I'm 6'-1" tall). Next pic is my after pic .. excuse the saw dust!! Lol I built 1' wide shelf brackets out of 2x3's I had laying around instead of spending $50-$75 on purchased metal wool brackets! I have a closeup of the bracket I built as the next pic! I used a 9" piece for the wall bracket, a 12" piece for the shelf and I cut a 45° wedge for a corner support. This is all glued and screwed to make them as rigid as possible. Then I screwed the 9" side to the wall using 3-2 1/2" wood screws. I set the 1/2" laminate press board as the shelf. I straightened up my wood bin and now I have an efficient miter saw corner. I also purchased a kitchen island from a local auction house for $6 which now is my miter saw table. Since I used everything I had laying around collecting dust .. this whole thing cost me for the screws (had them on hand but the largest cost of this project) it cost me about $30-$40 for everything. That was less than the metal brackets would have been if I had purchased them! I just want to show that with a little thought and time .. you can set your shop up and it can be efficient to how you work! I will post more of my Re-Design as I progress!!