Great Trade Secrets Video

[John Mueller]

I get Stew Mac's trade secrets and I often find them to be just an add for a product. Not to much this week. have a look...
http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0195 ... ign=ts0195

When I saw the drill press binding cutter my jaw dropped. Why didn't I think of that. All great Ideas.

[Jason Rodgers]

When I saw the drill press binding cutter my jaw dropped. Why didn't I think of that. All great Ideas.

I know, right? All sorts of possibilities!

[Bryan Bear]

Holy heck! That drill press chisel tip is worth the price of admission. I'm gonna keep an eye out for an old chisel that I can take the handle off of.

[Michael Lewis]

Oh, just make sure your chisels are really sharp and practice cutting miters. You will get good at it pretty soon. A few painful failures really helps sharpen your wits to avoid such failures in the future.

[Jason Rodgers]

Holy heck! That drill press chisel tip is worth the price of admission. I'm gonna keep an eye out for an old chisel that I can take the handle off of.

Yes, if it's a tang-style chisel, you can probably forego the extra handle and brass rod he uses and just chuck up the tang. It would be stronger that way, too.

[Tim Put]

Call me paranoid, but I think I'd unplug the drill press before trying that nifty looking trick!

[Jason Rodgers]

Nah, then it's just a spade bit!

[Mario Proulx]

I'm with Michael on this one; if your chisel is uber-sharp, and it should be, then that's all you need. You'll almost always have to do some fine trimming/fitting on the body, and the drill press trick won't help there, so you may as well get good with the chisel instead of looking for a workaround. As much as the bindings bend in the video, Dan's not using a very sharp chisel...

I can, though, think of a few other tasks that the chisel-in-the-press thing can be useful, so I'll be keeping that trick in mind.

Good idea to unplug the drill press. Back when I was using mine to press frets, I reached-up and turned it on a few times. Habits die hard, luthier's fingers die easily!

[Alan Carruth]

I'm with Mario on the sharp chisel, and also the safety reminder. I've been a wood worker for over forty years, and I can still count to ten without having to take off my shoes (which you don't want to see!). Knock wood....

[Greg Robinson]

I'm sure many of us have arbor presses for fretting, that would be a safer alternative to using a drill press.