Accessories

Accessories

Power tools alone can do only so much -- their accessories expand their capabilities and simplify specific tasks. That's especially true for portable power tools -- match them with well-chosen accessories and they'll do many of the same tasks as stationary power tools. While you can buy many accessories at home centers, woodworking supply stores, or through mail-order, you can also make many of them yourself.

Home-built accessories that hold or guide a tool to perform specific jobs quickly or accurately are called jigs. See the example at the bottom of the opposite page.

One of the handiest accessories you can build is a reliable straightedge. Using the one shown at right, you'll be able to accurately rip large sheets of plywood with a portable circular saw. Make another straightedge to serve as a guide for cutting dadoes, grooves, and rabbets with your router. With straightedges like these, you can quickly saw or rout precise cuts.

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Avoid underlit work, overloaded cords, and wobbly stock

It's difficult -- and dangerous -- to work in poorly lit areas. Portable, adjustable halogen work lights make sure you can see what you're doing.

To make sure your tools perform at peak power and to avoid dangerously overloaded extension cords, which can cause fires, use at least a 16-gauge extension cord with power tools that draw less than 10 amps, and a 14-gauge cord with ones that draw more current.

A pair of sawhorses become workhorses when working with plywood. You can buy the brackets and make them yourself. A roller stand supports long pieces of material.

Building a straightedge: Step 1

Glue and clamp a 2-inch-wide piece of 1/2-inch-thick stock to one edge of an equally long piece of 1/4-inch plywood that's about 6 inches wider than your saw or router base. Both pieces should be a few inches longer than the longest cut you will make for your projects.

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Building a straightedge: Step 2

When the glue has dried, run the circular saw or the router with a straight-cutting bit along the 1/2-inch fence to rip the 1/4-inch plywood to width. Using this jig guarantees a straight, accurate cut as long as you use the same blade or bit. Write the name of the tool and blade or bit on the jig.

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Build a crosscutting jig for your portable circular saw

This jig makes clean, accurate crosscuts possible. Build the base by screwing and gluing a pair of parallel 1x2s to the top of a piece of 12-inch x 4-foot 3/4-inch particleboard. Attach aluminum angle bars at 90 degrees to the 1x2s to serve as saw guide bars. Space them to fit the width of the circular saw's base plate. Adjust the saw blade so it cuts through the 1x2s and makes a slight kerf (cut) in the base.

To use the jig, clamp it to your workbench, slip the board to be cut under the guide bars, hold or clamp it in place, and make the cut. Rub paraffin on the aluminum angle bars to help the saw slide more easily.

Building a straightedge: Step 3

To use the straightedge for crosscutting or ripping stock, draw your cut line with a fine lead pencil. Place the straightedge on top of the good portion of the material and carefully align the edge opposite the fence with the cut line. Secure the straightedge with clamps tightened on top of the fence and the bottom of the piece to be cut (and not impeding the tool's path). Run the saw or router against the fence to make the cut.

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Crosscutting plywood

To crosscut plywood, support the sheet underneath with a network of 2x4s to hold up the stock on both sides of the cut. Draw your cut line and align the side opposite the fence with it, with the jig over the good portion of the stock. Use clamps on top of the fence at both ends of the straightedge to hold it tightly in place on the plywood. After double-checking alignment and support placement, make the cut.

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