How to Make Half-Lap Joints on a Table Saw | Tricks of the Trade

[@randypatrick4421]

David, this tutorial is one of the finest no-nonsense tutorials I’ve seen! Very watchable, detailed, and educational. Thanks!

[@tomekapompey563]

I did it myself. Find Woodglut quickly. if you want to do that.

[@brianmi40]

Stop promotingk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXe5hJmAp66ogJI

[@NewYears1978]

I learned more as a beginner in this video than the last 3 or 4 videos I watched combined. Thanks!

[@leehelmick4065]

Newbie here. Ditto! Thanks so much for your concise vid!!

[@randypatrick4421]

Same here!

[@brandyhawking7908]

I've heard good feedback about the woodglut instructions.

[@TheHansoost]

Great tutorial. Very well organized and demonstrated. I appreciate the time you take to show or warn about the screw up areas. Thanks.

[@Barnagh1]

You’re a good teacher and communicator. When I do the cross-laps, I use the Japanese technique. I cut the trenches tight, and hammer the wood to compress it to a tight fit. The wood recovers and yields a really tight joint with no gaps.

[@munkytaint666]

as a novice, i've watched a lot of instructional videos on half laps, and still struggled a bit trying to perfect those cuts in my shop. yours is a much more comprehensively explained bit of instruction and is very helpful. thank you sir

[@thejoshthat]

I totally agree!

[@bryangatewood6749]

I appreciated this gentleman showing that he messed up at first. Keep trying!

[@nataliepotter3635]

You do have to spend some time setting the saw up... blade, fence, etc. But once done, the saw is great. Fairly compact which is Nice kzbin.infoUgkxXh-4_3-ZT1fFWP91ZV7iVqzElr0lEb-a I did get an Incra Miter Gauge which takes some setup as well. The stock miter gauge can be adjusted in the miter slot with a little painter's tape... this tightens up the side to side play a lot.

[@jamesallen6007]

Easy to follow video, and I managed to do it for myself. Many thanks.

[@andabien3]

Excellent! Clear, straight forward and concise explanation. I'm now a subscriber.

[@tvoneng]

Using geometry to find the center point...is a great idea. I didn't know you could do that, and was using a compass to find the center point. The triangle is easier. Your video and sound was excellent-very clear. Thank you.

[@mikedisimile2478]

Great job explaining everything thank you

[@MinHongJiwoodstudio]

hi...I made a watching your video. Thank you for being an inspiration to me.

[@stuartmills5704]

Very nice video. Thanks for the going in depth with the details.

[@haydnpearce]

Well put sir I am off to give it a go thank you

[@themeat5053]

I was happy to see that I'm not the only one who has run my blade into my woodpecker miter gauge.

[@Tinoszeist]

Just what I thought 🤣

[@dougieyoung6536]

Great vid with some top tips. Thanks for sharing 👍👏👏👏😀

[@tj-yt6822]

Thank you I didn't understand for my woodworking class but I understand

[@weekendwarrior9570]

excellent. Thank you for sharing

[@armorvestrus4119]

Thank you this was helpful.

[@paigevinson2668]

Great overview and thank you! This will help me build some cabinet doors shaker style.

[@JimFleming1953]

Nice explanation... I guess over the years of my piddling between "Woodworking" and rough carpentry, I never really treated woodworking with the care it takes, too much carry over from the rough carpentry that I've done... This opened my eyes, and made me think. Thanks, David.

[@henrysmith7881]

Here is a huge collection of 16,000 woodworking plans: *WoodPlan. info*

[@kathydeitering4232]

Thank you for an excellent tutorial.

[@stevecollins9450]

Thanks for the demo, David. Instead of having to worry about flushing up the bat ears (a practiced skill in itself), as well as the 2 different heights of the teeth when setting up, a flat top blade (no dado blade set needed) will solve both of these problems.

[@owenjennings8575]

Very good explanation.

[@oldmanpottering]

Nicely explained and well presented, thank you

[@rajeewa1618]

good explanation

[@timd5343]

thank you it helps

[@jimsreef366]

Good stuff thanks learned something new today which is awesome! Really like your video very professional.

[@JusBidniss]

When squaring my blade and miter gauge, I prefer to first make sure the blade is parallel to the miter slot, then square the miter gauge to the slot, using a carpenter's square. For doing the parallel blade check, the blade length itself is pretty short front to back (even fully raised), so I take a longer straight edge (I use one of those aluminum straight edges for circular saw rip cuts that are (2) 4' 3" pieces that join in the middle, since the extruded aluminum is exactly the same width along its length, but a metal yardstick would work just as well, or even the long arm of the carpenter's square), and put the straight edge up against the blade. That way I can extend the front/back length of the blade to the entire front/back length of the table. Then just measure from that straight edge over to the miter slot at the front of the table, and again at the back of the table, and adjust the blade until it's parallel to the slot.

[@johnconklin9039]

The easier way to set the depth is to take one cut on the very end of a piece of scrap (same thickness), flip it over and take another cut at the very end. Adjust until you are left with barely a wisp in the very middle.

[@popularwoodworking]

Yep, that would work as well!

[@folkmarcmetal]

Oh that is a great idea, will use this. Thnx

[@jaxwoodworkers]

Yep - that's the best way to do it!

[@wisemanfromlife3019]

Thank you, that works too

[@Pennyburn1688]

Bob Carona bbc

[@ianb4music]

Great video, thanks!

[@callihanhopwood6255]

There are many similar projects in Woodprix's plans.

[@brianmi40]

Stop promotingk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXe5hJmAp66ogJI

[@johnchristy7029]

I like how you figured out how to make the half lap. I was wondering how would you lay out the half lap for angle cuts like the (X) for sides on a table or cabinet? is it the same way?

[@billcoley8520]

I’m just starting to get into wood working and it seems I’m having trouble finding the middle of the board. Especially when ripping along piece of wood. It because of the blade width. I’ve started making samples that I mark and save in a zip lock for further uses later. Are there any better ideas

[@BouncyThrone]

That was a great video.. Thanks..

[@wolframherzog636]

Good presentation! Thank you

[@luislagos24]

Man 👨 you are good

[@clickster1883]

8:10 I laughed, then immediately thought, “You know, I really should write that down: Be smart.” 🤔

[@buttersstotch2014]

what's the best way to do this for long 2x6s? I often see fences with half laps at the corners, but wonder how they cut them since cutting a 12'+ board sideways on a table saw doesn't seen feasible

[@ChameleonCreations22]

You can do the same principle with a circular saw! Just set the depth and use a square as a guide👍

[@Bonezz024]

Any reason you didn't use your rip fence instead of free handing it? Seems like you'd be able to avoid going too deep by using the rip fence as a stop reference. And since it's not a through cut you should be safe from kickback

[@brianmi40]

You can always use a fence for a stop block, even on a through cut. Just drop a scrap in between that sets the position accurately, and as you slide forward you'll leave the scrap behind for no possible binding on the fence. There's also a simpler method using a kerf shim to do these: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKTaZqSip8mraKM

[@robshawver8927]

Dado Blade is worth the money.

[@TheWoodYogi]

Nicely explained and demonstrated :) ॐ

[@Engstreet]

Like a pro!

[@robertbrunston5406]

Thank

[@ChristopherClaudioSkierka]

i thought you were meant to cut the pencil line it self?

[@chewningwitmer5806]

I've heard good feedback about the Woodglut plans.

[@brianmi40]

Stop promotingk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXe5hJmAp66ogJI

[@bobbg9041]

But its only half way , wood you go deeper?

[@hebierob]

Good

[@galland3496]

OR, You live in a country that does not permit dado cutting with multiple stacked blades, ( I wish I did ) such as UK or EU.

[@firelordkushroll]

why does the riving blade cause problems? ofc i know why not to have like antikickback prawls and whatnot. but why the riving blade? would one not simply be able to push the wood forward, then back? confused, and now hesitant to even try anything because of that comment?

[@Zaranathax]

Blimey, that's a hard way to do it! All that marking out isn't needed. Do as John Cronklin says for the thickness. For the width just set your fence by laying the wood along the length and aligning with the blade - do it on the small side and creep up to it to be sure. Run a test piece and with everything set you can run a batch without having to think about it. You can get rid of those lines on the tenon by running the wood back and forth perpendicular to the blade.

[@89gnn]

i'm no expert, but every other video i watch says to square the miter gauge to the miter slots, not to the blade.

[@jaysimmons2319]

I believe that recommendation to square to the miter slots assumes that you have already squared the miter slots to the blade. Having that improves quality and safety

[@Cecil_X]

Square to the sliding table, or miter slot, is correct. Think of a router bit. You cannot square to the tangent, but your cut will be square if the piece is square to its direction of motion. A blade that is askew will simply make a wider kerf. If the blade is WAY out of square, you could cut a cove, and the cove would be square to the work piece.

[@dawnredwoodridge]

I like how you found thickness center with geometry! However, for adjusting the blade itself, look at this video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ7OhqGOj6hgqc0) where, using one piece of test wood: adjust saw depth to slightly less than halfway, cut a small width, flip, cut same width, raise the saw depth a tiny bit, and repeat until both sides cut leaves only a paper thin wood piece. Thanks!

[@bertohlsson6921]

My God 1 / 15 of an inch? How do you even measure that? METRICS!

[@brokenwave6125]

This is such a convoluted way of doing this...

[@condor5635]

Broken Wave very nice constructive comment. Overall great video in my opinion. Thanks

[@brokenwave6125]

condor5635 Ok...that's your opinion. I gave mine. What's the point of pretending yours somehow trumps mine. Just post your own comment....

[@condor5635]

Broken Wave - my whole point is if you think it's convoluted I'd be interested in knowing what a better way to do it instead of just saying it's convoluted

[@brokenwave6125]

condor5635 Ok hypocrite

[@folkmarcmetal]

Instead of saying that, just point out the better way. Beginner woodworkers might learn from that

[@Argyll9846]

After 40 years in the building industry I've yet to find a framing square that's actually square, so squaring a fence and a blade by using one does not guarantee accuracy, far from it.

[@thejoshthat]

What would you recommend then?

[@johnnyc563]

Nothing other than a Starett square or the plastic engineer square.

[@terryc47]

@@thejoshthat There is a method for truing up a square. All you need is a hammer and a punch. Research it on KZbin. Basically to turn the angle out, one punches one corner, to turn angle in one punches the opposite side. Best to buy oneself two squares, 1 for everyday useage, the other for fine tuning. But once you get your square really true, take great care of it and keep it well protected, strictly use it only where real accuracy is important.

[@hulkgqnissanpatrol6121]

Maybe follow your own information, you didn't apply pressure knowing it was bowed, even after talking about it! Resulting in those ribs. If the saw was cutting that inaccurate, replace it.