Wood movement is not always a bad thing, as illustrated in the three videos we found recently while scouring the Web for woodworking-inspired home movies.

The first example of this comes from the workshop of Ashford, Connecticut woodworker David C. Roy who builds fascinating kinetic sculptures from wood. According to his Web site, the sculptures are"powered by a constant force spring which must be wound.”

The video below illustrates how his sculptures work, but equally as interesting is the design process, which relies on drawings created in Adobe Illustrator and animated with a program called Working Model. Read more about the design process here...

Watch more videos of David's sculpture here.

Man Powered Movement

Our second example was filmed at the world fair for the forestry and wood industries in Hannover, Germany. It shows a pedal-powered wood machine with chain-driven gears on a massive scale and is an amazing display of mechanical engineering.

Del’s Wooden Machine

This last example is one that you may have already seen considering it has been viewed more than 400,000 times on YouTube. It shows a hand-powered wooden machine constructed entirely of wood and glue thatincorporates a variety of mechanical motions all set off by a single hand crank.

The 71-year-old maker of the "nutty device" only goes by the name "Del" in this video so we didn't immediately dig up any information about his other work, but he calls this example "his crowning achievement."

Video Review of Festool Kapex
watch the video on FineHomebuilding.com

FineHomebuilding.com recently posted a great tool review of Festool's semi-new Kapex KS120 SCM 10-in. sliding compound-miter saw. FHB editor Justin Fink (a woodworker by night and home builder by day) reviewed the saw for a recent issue of the magazine and showed off some of its key features in the video.

Justin notes: "It's got some pretty interesting features, and it better because it's $1,300."

That's pretty much the consensus we hear when it comes to Festool products. Anyone who frequents our Knots forum knows that Festool is one company that incites a lot of emotions in the average woodworker -- from those who pray to the gods of their engineering department to those who would rather save the money and work a little harder with their not-so-expensive tools.

We'll stay out of that debate (it really depends on your needs, in our opinion) but we'd love to see it take shape in the comments below. So have at it! Would you spend $1,300 on a miter saw?

Taper Safely!
Time: 17:58
Submitted by: Charles Neil, In The Workshop
New Market, Virginia

We've got another project from the workshop of Charles Neil. This time it's a handy tablesaw tapering jig that can be built from basic shop materials and accessories. Charles was kind enough to include a free plan for the jig, available as a PDF download.

We've seen countless ways to taper legs for furniture such as tables and chairs, and we've published our share of project plans and videos on FineWoodworking.com. One of our favorites is the safe and simple design from Alan Turner, who runs the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop in, you guessed it, Philadelphia. Charles' jig takes a slightly different approach to the task. For a full list of other designs, take a look at the results of a search for "tapering jigs" on our site.

UPDATE: For some reason this video has been removed from YouTube and as a result is no longer is available on GlueTube. We're leaving the player on the page in case it comes back to life. Too bad, this was one of our favorites...

Foot Powered Table Saw
Time: 2:13
Submitted by: Robin Tucker, Woodmosaics
Spickard, MO

Woodworker Robin Tucker is doing his part to save energy, and keep in shape. Tucker, who goes by the handle Woodmosaics on his Etsy online store, built a pedal-powered tablesaw (embedded above) to support his online business making and selling wood mosaic boxes, tables, and other wooden gifts.

The antique saw is retrofitted with what looks like a chain and one-to-one gear system that spins the saw blade as you pedal backwards. Paired with a few nice crosscut jigs, he's able to produce hundreds of pieces of special cut veneer in one sitting.

"You always want to keep a sharp sawblade in the saw at all times, or else you run the risk of overheating the power supply and causing it to stop," Tucker notes in his video.

Woodmosaic's tablesaw has another thing going for it: Safety. Not unlike the SawStop tablesaw, which uses an electronic sensor to stop the blade the instant it touches flesh, Woodmosaic's saw also sports a finger-saving technology.