I had a blast writing for ToolCrib.com in 2008 - I’d have a tough time picking my favorite articles. You don’t have any trouble picking your favorites Here are the writings that YOU liked the most last year, in order of page views.

And for kicks, here’s the January 2008 newsletter we sent that looks at popular 2007 articles >>

1) Buyer Beware, A Harbor Freight Buying Guide: The Good Enough, The Bad and the Abysmal

2) 24 Free Sawhorse Plans in the Hunt for the Ultimate Sawhorse

3) ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Free Woodworking Workbench Plans

4) Sawstop vs. Powermatic PM 2000 in the Professional Wood Shop

5) Cyclone Dust Collectors: Gorilla vs. Clear Vue vs. Grizzly
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2008 was a huge year for free woodworking plans at ToolCrib.com… How huge you ask? Well, here are the top 38 free woodworking plans in order of how many people visited them from our site so you can see for yourself.

We published these plans in collections (scroll to the bottom to see all our collections) and ordered this list based on the number of times each individual plan received a visit.
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I wrote this fun quiz in collaboration with Humble Pie, a recent video from The Wood Whisperer. In this episode Spagnuolo revisits work he made many years ago and examines them for “damage, flaws and evidence of wood movement.”

Check out the Humble Pie video to learn Marc’s lessons in wood movement and then come back to take the quiz here to see how humble you really are

Note - if your results show up for a second and then disappear just hit refresh. If it still isn’t working you can also go and take the quiz here >>

Are you a humble woodworker, or are you just modest? Maybe you’re “Green” and haven’t made enough mistakes to earn your humility

This fun quiz will give you an idea of how humble you are.

1. Have you ever made a project too big to get out of your workshop?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

2. Have you ever forgotten to account for the WIDTH of the wood you’re working with?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

3. Have you ever made a project too big for the place it’s intended?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

4. Have you ever tried to unload your projects at a yard sale for CHEAP?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

5. Have you ever measured 3 times and still had to cut more than once?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

6. Have you ever made large batch cuts only to find out you made them the wrong size?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

7. Has your work ever developed MAJOR cracks because you didn’t account for wood movement?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

8. Made the same mistake twice or more… on the same project?

More than once.

Once.

Never.

Hybrid table saws remain a popular category with woodworkers seeking more power and versatility than contractor and benchtop table saws. To find the top 10 we gathered hybrid table saw tests, reviews and recommendations of professionals and hobbyists from the leading woodworking publications and forums.

Here’s what you’ll find in this article:
What is a Hybrid Table Saw? A Working Definition
When You Should Go for a Cabinet Saw Instead of a Hybrid
ToolCrib.com’s Top 10 Hybrid Table Saws
Hybrid Table Saw Ranking Resources
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We know that signing up for ANOTHER email newsletter is a big commitment Check out our archive before you sign up for the newsletter >>

Top 10 Hybrid Table Saws + 38 Most Popular Free Plans of 2008
Issue 43 - January 7th, 2009

The Combo Blade Showdown + 31 Free 3D Puzzle Plans
Issue 42 - December 17th, 2008

14″ Bandsaw Comparison + 25 Plans for Last Minute Gifts
Issue 41 - December 2nd, 2008

23 Shed and Workshop Plans + 12 Woodworking Gift Ideas Under $30
Issue 40 - November 19th, 2008

12 Shop Storage Plans + Brad Nailer Showdown + 10 Sources of Cheap or Free Wood
Issue 39 - November 5th, 2008

20 Cutting Board Plans + How to Get 30% Off Grizzly Tools
Issue 38 - October 22nd, 2008

15 Free Mobile Base Plans + 7 Stupid Laser Tools
Issue 37 - October 8th, 2008
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Did you make any Christmas gifts in your workshop this year? You’re not alone While visiting my favorite woodworking forums today I found several threads showcasing Christmas gifts.

Here are some of my favorite photos, followed by links to where you can see the whole threads for yourself:

Bread Dipping Boards

by Ralph of www.consultingwoodworker.com
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Stu’s an Australian woodworking blogger who writes and video tapes his experiences and lessons learned while working in his shed. He’s also one of the few cheapskate woodworkers brave enough to take the quiz AND post his cheapskate badge ;D.

Pop a beer (don’t set it on his table saw though), relax and enjoy your tour of Stu’s Shed!
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In many cases a quality combination blade will outperform lower grade dedicated rip and cross cut blades. Whether you choose to run only combo blades or switch your blades depending on your cuts is a matter of preference, what you’re cutting, how much you’re cutting, and the saw you’re cutting with. To help you make a decision on your next combo blade I visited the usual suspects (woodworking forums) and researched opinions.

I didn’t do any tests with these blades - the rankings/votes are based purely on each blade’s popularity in a forum. At the end of the post you’ll find the threads I counted along with info resources (…if you’re blade shopping because of bad cuts have you considered either cleaning or sharpening your current saw blades?)

Here goes - enjoy the showdown (cue tumbleweed, blowing sand and Sergio Leone music)
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Festool lovers weep while Festool haters laugh and wink at their perfectly respectable collection of power tools. Why? Festool announced a price increase starting on February 1st, 2009.

We plugged the Festool price increase list supplied by McFeely’s into good old Microsoft Excel so we could get a feel for what’s going on with their prices.

(And just so Festool doesn’t feel like we’re picking on them, here’s our article on Grizzly’s coming price increase >>)
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We should have included free woodworking software on our list of the top 10 most dangerous power tools The free woodworking design software out there - namely SketchUp (read about Sketchup and Woodworking in this forum if you want) - gives you way more power than you need for most simple projects.

You’ll end up raising your blood pressure learning software to design a picture frame when you should be making sawdust. Luckily for your health we found 10 free woodworking software tools designed for highly specific projects. Enjoy and if you’ve used these or know of any other free programs please comment them below.

Note: Clicking some of the links below will make your computer begin downloading zip files that contain programs that you have to install. There’s fair warning on each one.

>> Free Picnic (etc…) Table Design Software
Just in case our list of 32 picnic table plans didn’t end your quest for the perfect picnic table, software designer David Eidsness provides the ultimate tool… Picnic Table Design Software. (See all of Eidsness’ software here >>)
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