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Stuff Every Woodworker Should Know

Woodworking basics and shop safety: tools, wood, joinery and finishing.

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  1. OSHA says a hand-fed circular ripsaw must be guarded by what?
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    A hood over the blade above the table. OSHA's woodworking machinery rule (29 CFR 1910.213) requires a hood on hand-fed circular ripsaws. It covers the blade above the table so hands cannot touch it. Home saws call it the blade guard.

  2. OSHA requires hand-fed circular ripsaws to have which part to help stop wood being thrown back?
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    A spreader. A spreader sits behind the blade inside the cut and keeps the wood from closing on the blade. Pinched wood is a main cause of kickback. Modern saws use a riving knife for the same job.

  3. What do OSHA rules call the toothed pawls on a ripsaw that oppose kickback?
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    Nonkickback fingers. OSHA requires hand-fed circular ripsaws to have nonkickback fingers or dogs. They are set to oppose the saw's tendency to throw material back at the operator.

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  1. OSHA says a hand-fed circular ripsaw must be guarded by what?
  2. OSHA requires hand-fed circular ripsaws to have which part to help stop wood being thrown back?
  3. What do OSHA rules call the toothed pawls on a ripsaw that oppose kickback?
  4. OSHA says a hand-fed jointer with a horizontal cutting head must have what on its working side?
  5. OSHA says push sticks or push blocks must be provided at the workplace for which task?
  6. NIOSH says noise averaging what level over an eight-hour day is hazardous to hearing?
  7. Hearing loss caused by loud work noise is described by NIOSH as what?
  8. OSHA says breathing airborne wood dust from sanding and cutting may cause allergic breathing problems and what else?
  9. What is kickback on a table saw?
  10. In a CPSC survey of table saw injuries, the stock kicked back or jumped in about what share of cases?
  11. Which body part did CPSC find most often injured among table and bench saw operators?
  12. What does a riving knife on a table saw do?
  13. How does a riving knife differ from a fixed splitter?
  14. Where should a featherboard be placed on a table saw?
  15. Which side of the blade should you push stock on, according to Woodcraft?
  16. SawStop's manual says not to perform any table saw operation how?
  17. For through cuts, the top of the blade should be no more than how far above the workpiece?
  18. SawStop says its brake stops the blade in less than how long?
  19. How does SawStop detect that skin has touched the blade?
  20. SawStop's manual says to use a blade guard and spreader on which operations?
  21. When routing an outside edge by hand, which way do you move the router around the work?
  22. When routing an inside cut such as a cutout, which way do you move a handheld router?
  23. What is the danger of climb cutting with a router?
  24. On a router table, which way should the workpiece be fed relative to the bit's rotation?
  25. Before installing or removing a router bit, what must you do first?
  26. What router bit shank should you use in a given collet?
  27. OSHA says jointer knives must not project more than how far past the cylindrical head body?
  28. OSHA's eTool says to use hold-down push blocks when jointing wood narrower than what?
  29. What is a jointer mainly used for?
  30. When milling a rough board on a jointer, which surface is jointed first?
  31. What is a planer hazard listed by OSHA involving the feed system?
  32. On a band saw, the blade guide post should be adjusted to fit what?
  33. After tightening a drill press chuck, what should you do right away?
  34. Safety glasses for woodworking should meet which ANSI standard?
  35. Do everyday eyeglasses count as safety glasses, according to DeWalt?
  36. OSHA's permissible noise exposure over an eight-hour day is how many dBA?
  37. NIOSH says the NRR printed on a hearing protector package often does what?
  38. CPSC warns that rags soiled with which oils can heat up and ignite?
  39. What is a safe way to handle oily finishing rags, per Woodcraft?
  40. Woodcraft says which kind of wood dust is the real problem?
  41. For heavy shop tools, which extension cord is thicker?
  42. According to OSHA, which is more hazardous: dull tools or sharp tools?
  43. What may happen if a chisel is used as a screwdriver?
  44. What can loose clothing, ties or jewelry do around power tools?
  45. What must never be removed from a power tool plug, according to OSHA?
  46. DeWalt's circular saw manual defines kickback as a sudden reaction to what?
  47. If you stop a circular saw cut partway, what should you do?
  48. OSHA says dull or badly set saws must be what?
  49. OSHA requires woodworking machines to not do what when power returns after an outage?
  50. On a table saw, which guide is typically used for a crosscut?
  51. At about what moisture content does a drying board begin to shrink?
  52. Which direction does wood shrink the most as it dries?
  53. As wood loses moisture, how much does a board shrink along its length?
  54. What makes a tree a "hardwood" in woodworking terms?
  55. Which of these hardwoods is actually softer than longleaf pine, a softwood?
  56. Which part of a log is usually darker and more decay resistant?
  57. In commercial practice, quartersawn lumber has growth rings at what angle to the wide face?
  58. Plywood is always built with an odd number of what?
  59. What is medium-density fiberboard (MDF) made from?
  60. What are the actual dimensions of a standard dressed 2 by 4?
  61. How big is one board foot of lumber?
  62. Under the American Softwood Lumber Standard, softwood is "dry" at what maximum moisture content?
  63. Wood moisture content is figured as a percentage of which weight?
  64. What is equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of wood?
  65. A resistance (conductance) type wood moisture meter measures moisture by sensing what?
  66. Wood glue forms the best bonds when the wood is at what moisture content?
  67. In woodworking glue terms, what is "open time"?
  68. What happens when you clamp a glue joint with far too much pressure?
  69. What do most wood glues do poorly, which is why clamps and tight-fitting joints matter?
  70. What kind of wood surface gives the best glue bond?
  71. How strong can a good edge-grain glue joint be compared with the wood itself?
  72. With ordinary glue, an end-grain butt joint reaches about what share of the wood's tensile strength?
  73. A pilot (lead) hole for a nail should be about what size compared with the nail shank?
  74. Compared with the side of a board, how porous is end grain?
  75. Which type of finish is generally easier to clean?
  76. How long may drying oils like tung or linseed oil take to fully cure?
  77. Which common kitchen oil can turn rancid on a wooden cutting board?
  78. What does finishing every face of a board, including the end grain, tend to do?
  79. To repaint bare, weathered wood, the handbook suggests sanding with about what grit?
  80. White oak heartwood suits liquid-tight barrels because its pores are plugged with what?
  81. A board with a deviation flatwise across its width has which defect?
  82. A board whose four corners no longer lie in the same plane has what defect?
  83. In lumber grades, what does "S2S" mean?
  84. What is a "check" in a board?
  85. What can cause stain to soak into a board unevenly and look blotchy?
  86. In woodworking, what is a dado?
  87. Which joint is a two-sided recess cut along the edge or end of a board?
  88. In a mortise and tenon joint, what is the mortise?
  89. The interlocking angled parts of a dovetail joint are called what?
  90. A Kreg pocket-hole jig guides the drill bit into the wood at about what angle?
  91. In a biscuit joint, what goes into the matching slots cut in both boards?
  92. Titebond III is sold as waterproof. Where does its maker say not to use it?
  93. Why should you sand in the same direction as the wood grain?
  94. For a typical furniture project, which sandpaper grit order does Minwax suggest before staining?
  95. What does a pre-stain wood conditioner help prevent on woods like pine?
  96. Compared with oil-based polyurethane, how do water-based clear finishes like Polycrylic usually look?
  97. Which solvent is used to thin shellac?
  98. Lacquer applied on a cold, damp day may blush. What does blush look like?
  99. How can you check that a rectangular cabinet or frame is square?
  100. Why do many woodworkers lay out joinery with a marking knife instead of a pencil?
  101. A sheet sold as 3/4 inch plywood usually measures closer to what?