This month we’re going to talk about my favorite thing, getting dirty! Maintaining our tools and equipment that we rely on to make a living. This topic is one of my favorite things because of how significant it is. 

To me it is symbolic of the duties of running a woodworking business. It’s not the glamorous part of seeing a piece developing into something beautiful or having people celebrate your talents. This is the part that often can define whether I can continue enjoying the pleasantries I just mentioned. It is executing a fundamental belief, that without properly working machines and tools I cannot manufacture good products. 

I have worked hard to purchase the machinery I have and there’s nothing that makes me more upset than having to re-purchase something simply because I didn’t take proper care of it. That is also embarrassing and shameful. So, let’s talk about maintaining our machinery, power tools, and hand tools.
 

Machinery
I define machinery as motorized equipment when the workpiece or the wood is in my hands, that I’m taking to or putting on the equipment. I define that as a machine. Examples of this would be a table saw, band saw, planer, jointer, drill press, etc. Now that we have the obvious out of the way, let’s talk about maintaining these things. 

It is important you set aside time once a month to go through each machine and check to make sure it’s running properly and functioning as it should. Examples would be checking your fences, checking to make sure that your blades are holding accurately at the angles they’re supposed to be, and that all moving parts are lubricated properly (typically with a specific oil recommended by manufacturers). 

This is also a great time to check all of your blades and cutters to see if they need to be re-sharpened or replaced. Most of the time with machinery accessories like blades and cutters, I lean towards just replacing blades and bits. That is strictly because there are not a lot of sharpening services around me, and the few that do exist are often more expensive than just replacing bits and blades with brand new ones. 

About four times a year I will do a more thorough maintenance day where I clean out the interiors of every single motorized machine. I always start by removing all dust, debris, pitch, and anything that doesn’t belong that might have built up. I will also on those days clean, remove rust spots, and wax all of my cast-iron beds. Yes, all of them. 

I also will do a system check on my dust collection for leaks and the dust collector to see if I need filter or bag replacement. The main reason I heavily suggest you set the schedule is because your machines operating properly are your livelihood. They are safer, more accurate, and overall just more pleasant to use. 

Feel free to disregard my suggestions here and experience a jointer that has a fence slightly out of perfect after you’ve already run a couple thousand dollars’ worth of walnut. Take it from me. It’s actually more time-efficient to take an afternoon per month and maintenance the machines. It’s wise to check for jointer fence squaring weekly, by the way (wink, wink).
 

Power tools
I defined power tools as something I use that is motorized but handheld, and that I take to the workpiece or the wood. Examples would be jigsaws, handheld routers, drills, sanders, etc. 

About four to five times a year I will go through all of my power tools and first I will clean them. By this, I mean using the air gun or grabbing a small brush with stiff bristles and getting in there to clean all of the dust and the pitch that is piled up to restore them back to the best condition I can. 

Each tool can be different, and some will require a little more scrubbing than others, such as routers with pitch and gunk or a drill needing brushes replaced. I will also inspect my power cords to make sure that they have not been frayed or have exposed wires anywhere. 

The most frequent power tools I have to double-check are my sanders. I will remove the pads, clean out underneath where all the gears are, and then I inspect my pads to make sure they still have adhesion and they’re not causing swirl marks on my workpieces from damage or debris. 

I put sanding pads in the same category as track saw blades, router bits and jigsaw blades being a mostly a consumable item that has to be replaced every so often. It is a cost of doing business. Again, where I live, it’s cheaper to replace them than to get them sharpened typically, but I encourage you to look into what sharpening services have to offer in your area. Saving money is always a good idea when you can in this business. 

I cannot stress enough how important it is to check these on a regular basis. You would be surprised how much better these tools run when maintained properly, and like the machines, they are consistently more accurate in a state of good repair, as well. Trust me, you need your stuff running properly. Your time and work quality will benefit from maintaining them.

Hand tools
Hand tools are self-explanatory, but examples I would use would be chisels, gouges, hand planes, scrapers, files, rasps, and measuring tools, as well. I will immediately inspect for rust, clean and remove it. Next thing I’m going to do is check for sharpness. 
The more seasoned you get as a woodworker the more you intuitively know how to handle sharpening needs per job based on frequency of use and wood species. Your daily used chisels are going to be the ones that need it on a more regular basis and the more specialized ones maybe not as often, but I still recommend once a month. 

Other hand tools will need sharpening based on how often as you use them. I will say files and rasps I usually don’t mess with much. I just replace them when I inspect and conclude they are no longer sharp enough. The most important ones to me are the chisels, gouges, scrapers, and hand planes. 

As much as some people love to romanticize spending a lot of time hand sharpening their stuff with water stones, and other historically attractive methods that do work well. I encourage you to be more business-minded and be open to investing in a sharpening system that is designed to get your stuff sharp in a very timely fashion. I have been using the Tormek system for almost 10 years and I can get most of my chisels and hand plane blades completely ready to roll in less than 30 minutes and sometimes less than 20. That investment has paid for itself several times over already in time saved. That also includes all of my gouges for my lathe (I sharpen those after about 10 hours of use, a long workday basically). 

I also recommend picking up a pretty affordable jig for scraper sharpening, as ridiculous as that sounds, professionally, I found it simplified the process and I can sharpen as often as needed lightning fast. Hand tools must be sharp and clean to function at their best just like all the other tooling I’ve mentioned.

Finishing equipment
Another quick type of tooling I want to mention is your finishing equipment. If you are not spray finishing yet, I do hope you eventually will be. I had to mention this because in my experience it is best to be proactive with this equipment. Buildup over time in your spray guns can cause big problems at the worst times if you don’t do maintenance. 

I always to a quick clean up immediately after using them and still find they need to be taken apart and cleaned more thoroughly every month or so too. This has also saved me money on replacement parts and consumable components not wearing out as fast. Also, it’s a good idea to clean your finish room monthly, as well. I treat the room itself as a machine since it being clean can drastically affect my product.

Hopefully, you’re getting the gist of this. Dust, pitch, rust, other types of gunky buildup and dull tools can really make or break your day. In my experience, it’s always on the day you can’t afford to have it happen. It can also be costly to your business bottom line if unaddressed. 

The best way to combat this is to proactively take control of the situation and schedule monthly or quarterly times to maintain your equipment. Figuratively worth noting that you should probably take the same approach and take care of yourself as well. After all, you need to make sure you are running clean, healthy, and sharp too.

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