The Ultimate Guide to Maintaining your Table Saw

Maintaining your table saw pays dividends in the quality of cuts and safety. With a small investment of time you will see the results in your work and possibly extend the life of your table saw.

Maintaining your Table Saw - Getting Started

Table saws are one of the messiest tools in the workshop so cleaning them is an important job. Saw dust and tiny shavings can become trapped inside the motor reducing its effective working life.

Before you do any maintenance, make sure your table saw is off and unplugged from the power. Remove the blade, throat plate and blade guard. Read your owner’s manual to find out how to gain access to different parts of the table saw and how they should be cleaned and maintained.

Cleaning a Table Saw

Inspect the blade for signs of damage and residue on the teeth. If it needs cleaning, use a brass brush. If the residue is proving difficult to remove, dip the brush into paint thinner but keep it away from other parts of your saw.

Clean the motor by vacuuming or brushing off any dust or debris. Next, you need to lubricate the gears and trunnions. But don’t reach for any oil you have in the workshop as most types of oil will attract the dust. You need a dry lubricant that is silicone free.

For any plastic parts on your machine, use a small amount of dishwashing liquid in warm water to clean. Don’t be tempted to use a chemical or solvent you may have nearby as they can cause damage.

After you have finished with the lubrication, align the tension of the motor and pulleys. Check the belts and replace any that are showing signs of wear and tear. If you have no experience in replacing parts on your table saw, you may need to have an expert show you how.

Removing Rust on a Table Saw

If it has been a while since you gave your table saw love, you may notice rust spots that need removing. Use a kitchen scourer and mineral spirits to scour away the rust and any wax or tarnish. For heavier rust you may need wet or dry sandpaper or even an orbital sander to remove. Wipe the surface and mitre slots with a clean cloth and more mineral spirits as needed to remove all traces of dirt, rust and wax.

Use a dry, silicone-free surface lubricant or vinegar to keep the rust at bay and your table top looking good. Spray and leave for a few seconds before buffing with a paper towel. Spray and buff every few months so the table top doesn’t tarnish. Try to avoid using paraffin wax as it can leave a sticky residue.

Apply a silicone-free top coat protectant to give the top a slicker surface so your work piece will glide along. For added protection of your tabletop, cover with a piece of plywood whenever it’s not in use.

Table Saw Alignment

Alignment isn’t something you do only when you maintain your table saw but every time you use it. If you are having problems getting the saw properly aligned or you want to change the depth of the cut limit stops, you may need to disassemble the saw. If you fail to align it properly, you will get poor quality cuts, the saw is more likely to kickback, burn the wood and be unsafe to use.

Check the blade is in alignment then check the throat is flush with the surface of the tool and the riving knife is in line with the blade. The mitre slots should be parallel to the blade. Align any other parts or accessories such as a rip fence and gauge slots to check they are parallel. While you are looking closely at the blade, check the blade’s raising and tilt mechanisms for looseness or binding.

How Often Should you Do Maintenance?

This depends more on how often you use your table saw and less about the time between each maintenance sessions. Try to keep a rough track of how many hours you have used the table saw. Write the start and finish time for each session rather than trying to remember how often you have used your table saw.

The tasks also impact the maintenance schedule. If you only do light cutting jobs, you won’t need to do as much maintenance as someone who uses the saw for heavy cutting. For a mix of heavy and light cutting, aim to do maintenance every five hours of operation.

Also, the model of the table saw you own will determine the frequency of maintenance required. A high quality table doesn’t need as regular maintenance as a cheaper model.

If you aren’t sure if your table saw is due for maintenance, then you are best to show it some TLC rather than wait too long. You risk damaging your work, the table and put your safety at risk if you leave the job too long.

If you are looking for a good quality table saw, check out the range and don’t hesitate to contact us online.

A Simple Guide to Wood Turning - Beginners Projects

The road to becoming an experienced wood turner can be a frustrating one. The trick to ensure you don’t give up in frustration in the early days is to choose a project that interests you. You will also want to pick a project that is not too difficult and gives you a range of skills, rather than choosing several projects that are all similar.

Presenting friends and family with beautifully turned gifts is a rewarding hobby. The little gifts are a good opportunity to learn the skills you need to tackle bigger projects.

Wood Turning Beginners’ Projects

Here is a list of easy to complete, small projects:

Bowls

It’s one of the projects that many new wood turners start with. But don’t be lured into thinking they are simple to do. It may take a few goes to get it right. A bowl gouge allows you to turn on the grain and also turn on end grain. The straight profile of the tip works by scraping rather than peeling off the wood. While the deep flute supports the cutting edge and removes large quantities of waste. A bowl finishing scraper gives a smoother finishing scrape to the inside edge of the bowl for a more professional touch. If you intend to put food in your finished bowl, use a food safe finish.

Spoons

Whether you make a small spoon for mixing, a large salad server or a decorative spoon for display, making a spoon gives you plenty of experience using your lathe. Join different types of wood together for interesting patterns on your spoons. Design your own spoon template or do an internet search for templates you like.

Candle Holders

A candle holder is an ideal beginner project. You don’t need to stick to a template and mistakes are easy to cover. Let your imagination run wild when you are thinking about the design or check out YouTube if you need some inspiration. Use small or even scrap pieces of wood and make a variety of candle holders in different lengths and shapes. Practice your finishing skills and give them away as gifts.

Boxes

A trinket or jewellery box with a domed lid gives you the opportunity to master a curved lid and a collar to fit the lid. The three most common styles of box lids are:

1. The loose fit where there is no resistance to take the lid off.
2. The suction fit which has resistance but the lid goes on and off easily.
3. The snug fit means you can travel without risking the box’s lid coming off.

Tea Light Holders

Another inexpensive project that can use up your scrap pieces of wood. Make a series of tea light holders to practice your turning and finishing skills. Make individual tea light holders for beautiful, handmade gifts that will fit any space and décor or make a larger holder for multiple tea lights.

Spinning Tops

Make an old-fashioned spinning top to keep the young and not so young entertained for hours. Make the tops in a range of different shapes and sizes. They look great grouped together on display. Make your spinners entirely from wood or add a brass top to make it spin longer.

Honey Dippers

Long or short-handled honey dippers are quick and easy projects for the novice wood turner. They make the perfect gift or market stall sellers. Finish with a food-safe mineral oil.

Wood Turning Projects that Use Other Parts

The whole project doesn’t have to be made from wood. You can make fun trinkets that have turned wood as the hero attached to another part to make it functional. You can buy kits for the other parts to make beautiful bottle openers and stoppers, pens, a secret compartment, magnifying glasses, clocks and basting brushes.

Check out the full range of wood turning products and accessories and if you have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact us online.

8 Wood Carving Tools and Accessories to Support your Main Kit

When you think of essential wood carving tools, the faithful chisel comes to mind, but there are a few other tools you will need to invest in for your woodcarving. Find out what tools are essential now and what you can add to your wish list for the future.

#1 Planes

When you need to level large surfaces, pull out the bench plane. For smaller planing jobs that are either end grain or on the delicate side, use a block plane. A micro plane is more like a rasp than the other planes. It’s a cheap alternative if you don’t want the expense of buying high-quality rasps.

#2 Rasps

Rasps are available in varying degrees of coarseness and style. A concave rasp is suitable for shaping surfaces that are (no surprise) concave. A needle rasp is small and ideal for defining details. Another fine finishing tool is the riffler which can get in to do delicate sculpting work.

#3 Carpenter’s Mallet

Designed not to damage the end of metal tools when striking, the wooden carpenter's mallet also has an angled face for better control and reduced driving force. The oval face of a cylindrical carver’s mallet won’t slip when struck on a narrow spot.

#4 Clamps & Vices

You will need something to hold your piece while you carve but your standard F-clamp isn’t going to work. Depending on your project you will need to choose between a few different styles of vices and clamps.

Special carver’s vices are designed to hold your workpiece from the bottom, so it doesn’t damage your carving work.

Bench dogs will hold your piece in position on the workbench. The bench hold down fits into a bench dog. A hold-down clamp can be bolted to a work surface to secure your carving block. For times when a clamp is going to get in the way, a carving bolt allows you to fasten your workpiece from underneath.

#5 Knives

A draw knife has a handle at either end and is used for roughing and shaping work on either dry or green wood. Less clamping is required with a push knife which allows you to work with the stock while it’s butted against a solid surface.

#6 Spokeshave

When you need to shape and smooth small pieces of wood, a spokeshave can get into the tight spots to the job. Use with one or two hands, a spokeshave can produce fine, smooth surfaces.

#7 Wood Burner

If you want to add interest and depth to your piece a wood burner with different shapes of tips will allow you to create decorative effects from light brown to black.

Patterns and delicate textures can also be added to carvings with punches.

#8 Sharpening Accessories

The number one rule in wood carving is to only work with sharp tools. So you’ll need some sharpening accessories to keep your carving tools sharp and working as they should. An electric grinder with a rubber grinding wheel uses tiny pieces of diamonds for sharpening carving tools. A cotton polishing wheel is the electric version of a strop. An oil stone or water stone is placed on the bench and used for sharpening carving tools. If you need something coarser and more durable than a bench stone, a diamond hone will do the job. A honing cone is used to sharpen gauges while an auger file is ideal for small or hard to reach cutting edges.

A leather strop is used for polishing the edge after the tool has been ground and sharpened.

Maintain and store your wood carving tools and they will last a lifetime and most probably your next generation’s life too.


If you have any queries about the right wood carving tools and accessories, don’t hesitate to contact us online.

Essential Wood Carving Tools Explained

Woodcarving has to be one of the most rewarding hobbies. Creating a piece of art from a stick of wood takes skill, creativity, knowledge and patience. It’s not for everyone, only a small percentage of the population have the right mix. That’s what makes wood carving so unique.

If you are going to get started in woodcarving, you will need to know a little about the tools of the trade.

Essential Wood Carving Tools

A basic wood carving toolkit includes chisels, gouges and V-Tools. Within the three groups, the tools are categorised by the shape of the blade, the width of the cutting edge and the curvature or sweep of the blade. The shape of each blade is given a name that roughly describes the shape, for example, straight or spoon. The width of the cutting edge is in millimetres while curvature is a number with the higher number being, the more significant curve. V-Tools have a number corresponding to their angle between 45 and 90 degrees.

While there are hundreds of woodcarving tools on the market, you will probably use just a few tools most of the time. The three main ones are the chisel with a straight edge, a gouge which has a curved blade and a knife.

Woodcarving Tools and Chisels

Chisels come in three kinds – straight edge, skewed and veiners. The flat cutting edge is the most common type of chisel, the skewed has a blade that is angled to the right or left for cleaning out corners and veiners are for creating deep, round cuts. For making grooves, V-Tools are best.

Below are the most popular gouges and tools:

Straight gouge – a curved cutting edge with a tip that is straight across

V-parting tool – a V-shaped blade that is ideal for outlining and detailed work

Dogleg chisel – the blade shaft drops down at an angle of 90 degrees for paring flat recesses

Macaroni tool – the shaft is in a U shape and is used a gouge or V-tool

Bent-back gouge – a convex cutting edge for undercutting and shaping

Carver’s knife – a small bladed knife for chip carving and relief work

Spoon gouge – a concave spoon-shaped blade for tight spaces

Straight chisel – a flat blade with a sharp bevel for rounding and removing background material

Skew chisel – a flat but angled blade for doing fine detail work

Fishtail gouge – more full at the tip than the base, it’s ideal for cleaning out corners and undercutting

Bent gouge – the slightly curved blade is used for clearing waste from concave surfaces

Fluteroni tool – a U shaped blade with rounded corners on the cutting edge

Look After your Wood Carving Tools for a Long Life

Wood carving requires your tools to be in excellent condition to get the best out of them however you can easily damage them if you aren’t careful. Follow these rules and your chisels will have a long life.

These tools are best stored in a leather or canvas roll. With individual pockets for the tools, the cutting edges won’t be damaged banging against each other. If you don’t have a roll, you can protect the tools’ ends with a thick material wrapped and secured around each tip.

When it comes time to choose the wood for your project, pick a softwood especially if you are new to woodcarving. Not only will it be easier and more enjoyable experience, but a softer wood also won’t risk damaging your tools as hardwoods can.

Try to strike the blade in the direction of the wood grain rather than against it and avoid wood that has defects on the outside.


If you are looking for good quality wood carving tools without the price gouging, check out this wood carving range.

5 Easy Projects to Get Started in Woodworking

Whether you are a teenager starting out on your woodworking journey or you have finally retired from work and looking for a great hobby, you will want some easy projects to begin with. Launching into difficult projects can cause frustration or worse still put you off the craft altogether. The trick is to practice basic techniques with your early projects and build on these skills with each new piece you make.

Woodworking Tools

The appeal of woodworking is you don’t need a lot of hand-tools to get started. If you’re on a tight budget just check that the job doesn’t require you to buy a fancy new tool to finish it. Later on, if you want to graduate to do more complex woodworking, you can add to your collection as you go.

Instructions for Easy Woodworking Projects

There are patterns and instructions all over the internet. Some are paid and have details of all the tools and materials you will need and step by step instructions while other instructions are free. You can follow the pattern to the letter or find one you like the look of and modify it slightly to put your individual stamp on it. Here are a few suggested projects we think make great starters:

Footstool

If you didn’t make a footstool in high school woodworking class, now is your chance. A footstool can come in so many shapes and sizes from a single step or flip-flop stool used by kids to multiple rung stools and step ladders suitable for an adult’s weight. You are sure to find one that fits the bill with 23 foot stool variations to choose from.

Wooden Box

A simple small wooden box is a good starter project because you can use wood offcuts. If you make a mistake that can’t be fixed, just grab another piece and start again. Decide if you want to add hinges or leave it as two separate pieces with a lid and bottom. Check out these Pinterest pics for inspiration then decide on the dimensions you want the box to be. Choosing the type of joins you want to tackle will help narrow your search.

Pencil Holder

If its drill practice you want, why not try making a type of holder. A pencil holder is another favourite high school project, or you could do a make-up, a small vase or toothbrush holder. Choose a nice looking piece of wood that you can varnish so you can practice your drilling and finishing skills on the one piece. Check out this YouTube video of two types of pencil holders being made.

Spice Rack

Another relatively easy project to tackle if you can measure and join pieces of wood together. You can decide how high and wide you want to make it depending on the extent of your culinary spice collection. Decide on your spice rack design by checking out this Pinterest page.

Bird House

Perfect for kids wanting to do a quick and easy project with the help of an adult. A little drilling, sanding and hammering and the kids will be showing off their handiwork in no time. Hang it outside for your child to enjoy watching birds use for years to come. This bird house design is ideal for little hands to make.


If these projects don’t appeal, keep looking for something you will enjoy making and using or pass on your handiwork to someone else. Everyone loves a handmade piece. Even if it’s not perfect, it was made with love. Every tool you need for these projects can be found in this range of quality woodworking tools.

5 Tips for Setting Up & Cutting on your Woodworking Table Saw

The table saw is the forefront of many woodworking shops, however it can be daunting to use. If you don’t concentrate and follow the safety instructions, you could lose a finger. But with some practice, you can master the art of sawing and use your table saw for the majority of your projects. They can make any kind of precise straight cut, just not curved cuts.

#1 Fitting the Blade Safely

There are many different table saw blades you can choose from but the most. General purpose or combination blade; 30 tooth or 50 tooth blade.

Install the blade with the teeth facing towards you. Some blades have an arrow to show you which way to insert into the table. The blade fits on an arbour and is held in place with a washer and nut. Tighten the nut with a wrench. Install the riving knife. It prevents the wood from touching the back of the blade and helps prevent kickback.

Place the insert plate over the blade making sure it’s flush with the table top. An anti-kickback pawl can be inserted over the arbour. If your table comes with a guard, make sure you use it. Most table saw injuries are caused by kickback. A kickback is when the wood doesn’t move smoothly through the blade and twists. At the end of the wood, the blade grabs the offcut and throws it forward. Blades can spin at 3,000 RPM, so if it catches a piece of wood, it can turn it into a sharp, dangerous projectile. Stand to the side of a table saw blade rather than directly behind it. If kickback occurs, you aren’t in the direct line of fire and have some chance of avoiding the flying wood.

Always use a fence or mitre gauge to support the wood rather than moving a piece of wood through the saw freehand. You don’t have enough control. It also helps with keeping the wood square with the blade. Use a rip fence when the wood is longer than it is wide.

#2 Setting up to Make the Cut

If you set up an awkward cut and your gut instinct tells you it isn’t quite right, don’t make the cut. Reconfigure the wood and how you are standing, so you feel safer. Imagine where your hands and body will be while you are making the cut. Think about the beginning, the midpoint and importantly the end when you need to get the wood all the way through the saw, some distance from where you are standing.

#3 Making a Rip Cut

The rip cut is the most common on table saws as it cuts with the grain. To get the right width measure from the fence to the blade’s teeth. If you have marked your wood with a cutting line, make sure you take into account the thickness of the blade (kerf width). Raise or lower the blade so that it sits a little higher than the thickness of the wood. While cutting keep your focus on the fence rather than the edge to make sure the wood is being pressed against it during the entire cut. A push stick or gripper helps keep your hands away from the blade and keep the pressure on the wood both against the fence and the table. Use the push stick on the wood which hasn’t been cut yet. Once the blade has passed, you can’t keep the pressure on the fence.

#4 Making a Cross Cut

If you need to make a cross cut where you cut across the wood, use a mitre gauge fence. Line it up to the place you want to cut then feed it through the blade keeping both hands on the fence. If you are making multiple cuts to give you several pieces of wood of the same length. Screw a scrap of wood to your mitre fence to make it longer and clamp another small piece of scrap to mark the length you need. Butt your wood against the scrap piece and start cutting so you end up with the exact same length. If you are cutting small widths, use a scrap of block wood clamped to the fence as a stop block. This stops the wood from becoming caught between the fence and blade potentially causing a kickback.

#5 Maintenance

To keep your tabletop smooth, apply wax at least every few weeks. You will notice how easily your wood slides over the table. The wax will also reduce oxidation and keep your table looking good. A table saw creates the most mess of all the tools in your workshop. Fine shavings and dust fall on the floor, become airborne and settle in every nook and cranny. If you want to keep your work area and air cleaner, invest in a dust collector.


Check out the range of quality table saws and table saw accessories. 

Gift Ideas for a Woodwork Beginner

You don’t need to spend a fortune if you’re thinking of buying some hand tools for someone who is just starting out as a woodworker. A few basic essentials will help get them started. Here is a shopping list of tools that should be enough to make most simple woodworking projects that beginner craftsmen like to start out on.

Hand tools are much cheaper and safer than the power tools so start with these before moving on. You are far less likely to lose a finger with a hand tool. If your beginner is a child, you don’t need to worry about them using power cords and fast-moving parts. There is also far less vibration and dust which are also health concerns for woodworkers of all ages.

Chisels

Every woodworker needs a set of chisels. There is a broad price range to choose from with chisels, but you don’t want to go too cheap. A mid-range priced set will be easier to use and last you a long time. Buy a set of cabinet chisels with ranges ranging from 6mm to 26mm made from high-quality products. This beginner’s set is is forged from highly alloyed chrome manganese steel and has been hardened using heat treatment. The beech handles are ergonomic to use and designed not to roll off your bench.

Saws

If you are thinking of cutting your wood by hand, you will need a saw. A Western dovetail saw, or a Japanese Dozuki will do the job. The Dozuki saws are popular because they are versatile and can be used as a tenon, backsaw or dovetail. The spine gives the saw its strength so its blade can be kept very thin with a kerf of only 0.3mm. Their cutting efficiency means they are easy to control and cut on the pull stroke, so there is less buckling, binding and breaking of the blade.

Clamps

Most projects will need some clamps, mainly if you are going to be glueing two pieces of wood together. There are so many clamps on the market that you need to start out with a few versatile ones and grow your clamp collection as you need them for different projects. Start off with F-style clamps and bar clamps.

Sharpening Stones

One of the first skills woodworkers need to learn is how to sharpen their tools. To get good at sharpening takes practice. Buy a set of sharpening stones either oil stone or waterstone and keep sharpening your chisels. Take the back of the chisel back to dead flat, and the bevel should be square and flat. With time you will get a feel for when the edge is dull and needs to be re-sharpened. Being able to sharpen quick and effective is one of the best skills you can learn. It’s a technique you will need with every project.

Storage for Tools

If you like the idea of a cabinet to hold their tools, you could help out by giving them the materials they need to make this as one of their early projects. If you think they would prefer to do other projects, organise a peg board or storage containers to keep all of their tools tidy.

Having a set place for tools means they are easy to find at a glance and won’t get damaged rattling around in a toolbox or left on the bench. If their toolkit is limited to a few hand tools like chisels, you could choose a leather or canvas roll. They can upgrade their storage solution later as their toolbox grows.

Woodworking Safety Equipment

Don’t forget to invest in some safety equipment (even if you aren’t mum!). Woodworkers all need a pair of safety glasses and a spare, some earplugs for using power tools and a dust mask, so you aren’t breathing in all the fine shavings. Having a first aid kit on hand won’t hurt either as you always need a band-aid nearby in the early days.

If you are looking for the perfect woodwork tool gift ideas, check out the range of quality tools that will last many years without spending a fortune.