Making Woodwork Aids & Devices

Build the Aids That Make Woodworking Easier 🪚

Every woodworker knows the feeling: a tricky cut, a slippery workpiece, a jig that could save hours. Robert Wearing’s classic guide, Making Woodwork Aids & Devices, is a treasure chest of solutions you can build yourself. This revised edition brings together dozens of practical devices designed to hold, mark, cut, drill, and sand with greater accuracy and control.

What’s Inside

The book is organized into clear sections, each tackling a different workshop challenge:

• Holding devices – improved sawing boards, rebated vice jaws, carpet jaws, and more ways to grip work securely.
• Marking aids – tools and techniques for precise layout.
• Tools – shop-made tools that extend your capabilities.
• Lathe aids – accessories for turning.
• Drilling aids – guides and jigs for accurate holes.
• Sawbench aids – jigs for the table saw and more.
• Drawing aids, disc sanding aids, and miscellany – a grab bag of useful extras.

Adjustable Over Accurate 📐

One piece of advice from the introduction captures the spirit of the book: “If you can’t make it accurate, make it adjustable.” Wearing understands that wood moves and workshop conditions vary. Many of the devices shown include adjustable elements, so you can fine-tune them to your own setup. The sketches are deliberately foreshortened to show vital details clearly, and metric/imperial conversions are provided where it matters.

Who This Book Is For 🔨

Beginners will find simple projects that eliminate common frustrations, like the improved sawing board that holds work firmly in the vice. Experienced woodcraftsmen will discover new takes on familiar problems and ideas for speeding up production or handling repetitive tasks. If you enjoy making your own jigs, fixtures, and workshop helpers, this book is a natural fit.

About the Revised Edition ✨

Originally published in the UK in 1981 as Woodwork Aids and Devices, this revised 1985 edition was published by Sterling Publishing. It includes an index and updates to the original material. The book is illustrated throughout by Gay Galsworthy, whose clear line drawings make each project easy to follow.

A Timeless Workshop Companion

Decades after it first appeared, Making Woodwork Aids & Devices remains a valuable reference for anyone who works with wood. The projects are practical, the instructions are concise, and the underlying philosophy—build it yourself, make it adjustable—still rings true. Whether you’re setting up a first workshop or looking to refine a seasoned one, Wearing’s ideas will help you work smarter, safer, and more accurately.