Matt's Basement Workshop Video Feed

You have questions and comments about the simple thickness planer sled? I have answers; although I can’t guarantee they’re the ones you want to hear. Thanks to everyone who wrote in!

I can't believe this is happening to me, but I'm getting bit by the turning bug and it's obvious it's contagious! Now that my time in the shop is currently less than it use to be, I really want to be able to knock out a project or two from start to finish, and the lathe is probably one of the one tools where this is entirely possible. In today's episode I'm literally turning some scrap maple into a small bowl. What'll I use it for? Probably to hold keys, or spare change, or more likely M&M's! In this episode I made quite a few references to the Easy Wood Tools' gouges and detailers I was using (pretty much the entire time.) If you're interested in purchasing them or just checking them out or yourself, you can find them at Woodcraft.com Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Who doesn't need a little more storage space? Whether it's in the woodshop like me, or any where else throughout your living space, small cabinets help to tuck away the clutter and keep things organized. In this episode we're making a simple, small cabinet from supplies you can easily pick up at just about any home center. For this one I purchased a few "handi-panels" which are pre-glued and dimensioned boards that eliminate most of the milling we'd have to perform to get them ready for cutting and assembling. I also purchased some adjustable "euro-style" hinges and a simple wooden knob for the door. For joinery, it's all about the "blind-rabbet" joint in the corners to assemble the box, but something as simple as pocket-hole joinery or even tongue and groove would work fine too. Of course you could take a step further and use dovetail joinery or such to spruce it up even more. The only real "decorative" feature on this simple cabinet is the raised panel on the door. Originally I planned to leave it a flat panel, but then I wouldn't have had a chance to free-hand the extra wide chamfer all around the edge with my skew rabbet plane. Regardless of what you do with your small cabinet, this is a quick and easy project perfect for a single-day or leisurely weekend build. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Over the years there have been a lot of questions from new woodworkers. One of the most frequent is "should I buy a full set of chisels or just one or two?" The easy answer is "YES get a full set" but that's not always the correct one. In fact, if I had to rebuild my entire shop from the ground up and retool it, I'd probably avoid an entire set of chisels and instead concentrate on adding one or two high quality versions as needed. In today's episode I share with you the advice I like to offer new woodworkers (and some experienced ones) when it comes to purchasing chisels. With so many different tool manufacturers, sizes and even specialty chisels to choose from, it's hard to decide where to get started when buying your first (or next) chisel(s). My advice is pretty simple, and it can easily transfer to other tools and accessories in your shop later down the road. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

In the previous episode of this two part series "550 Simple Cabinet Construction Pt 1" we started the construction on a pair of overhead cabinets for a laundry room. The cabinets are about as simple in design and construction as possible. A box with a face frame and a pair of full-overlay doors to enclose them. The only detail that could be remotely described as "ornate" is the ogee profile routed on the rail and stiles of the door frames. As far as I'm concerned the simpler the better when it comes to cabinet design. Why? For two reasons; 1) it makes construction a whole lot easier and more predictable, and 2) an entire wall filled with highly ornate cabinets would actually be it's own kind of special craziness. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

Don't tell my wife, but after all these years of her asking if I'd ever consider building new cabinets for our kitchen I'm finally getting around to doing it. Except they're not for the kitchen, and they're not even for our house. Instead, it's a small build for a client. The good news is Samantha shouldn't be too upset by it for two reasons; 1) I'm getting paid to build them, and 2) Once I've built these, I'll know how to build ours even better if we still want to replace the existing ones! In today's episode we're getting started on the construction of a pair of overhead cabinets for my client's laundry room. The case construction is pretty straight forward, and made all that much easier because I'm using a blind rabbet joint which makes assembling them so much easier. As a matter of fact, that's what we'll be discussing and demonstrating in today's episode - milling the blind rabbet joint and then assembling the case from start to finish. Then in the next episode we'll move on to milling and constructing the face frame and the two sets of overlay doors to wrap up the project. Help support the show - please visit our advertisers

The folks over at Benchcrafted really know how to make tools. Jameel and everyone stand by the products they make so we don't have to worry about whether or not they're going to hold up in our shops. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they're woodworkers too. They don't just make tools to sell them, they make tools to use them!

It's very fair to say most of us associate Benchcrafted with their outstanding bench vise equipment and plans, but they also make a cool little tool that I picked up while attending the St. Charles, IL Woodworking In America Conference...The Skraper.

The Skraper is more than a handy little tool for removing hardened glue from tight corners of your projects. I use mine for a number of different tasks, and it has yet to fail me!

The guys over at Bora Clamps recently introduced their latest clamping system, the Bora Wide Track Clamp Edge. A straight edge clamp that works very much like a traditional clamp with the added benefit of having a straight edge body attached to it.

The beauty of a straight edge clamp is you can attach it to a surface, such as a workpiece or a tabletop/workbench and run your circular saw, router, jigsaw or most portable tools along the edge. It's a great system for those with limited space or jobsites where you don't have the luxury of large tools with fences and the like.

Add to all of this the fact the Bora Wide Track Clamp has an extra wide body that will not flex while using, extra thick soft pads that can easily handle stock up to 1-1/2" thick, have the ability to angle the clamp body 22-1/2 degrees left or right while clamping or the fact that the body has a T-track system built in.

Today's episode is the 5th part of the series on the Child's dresser. We've jumped ahead a little bit as in real time I started to fall behind so I did some assembly work with the camera off. I'm trying to document as much as I can on these projects, but occasionally things kind of fall through the cracks.

For the most part, today's episode covers drawer front construction from rough to finish. And glue up of the dresser top.

Today's Try It Tuesday is a look at the Czeck Edge Ruler-Stop currently available at Highland Woodworking. A handy little tool that literally fits in the palm of your hand but still has the ability to do great big things.

The Czeck Edge Ruler-Stop works much like a traditional square, but with one big exception...you're not stuck with only using one kind of ruler. The vise like action of the Ruler-Stop opens to a maximum width of 1-1/4" and can accept rulers, shop made story sticks and just about anything that can fit within it's grasp. And because the sides of the body are ground flat and square to the jaws, it can easily be used much like you would a traditional square to layout lines on your projects.

There's a lot the Czeck Edge Ruler-Stop can do, but you won't know until you try it out for yourself. Mine sits in my shop apron pocket so I never have to be without it. But check it out for yourself.