So Incredibly Spoiled: Bad Axe

A couple weeks ago a friend in Chicago sent me a new Western backsaw (nice gift!) that he picked up for a couple dollars. It was shiny and factory-fresh with a beech handle and a clean etch. It [...]

Zap the Gap

      I hated the black hole that appeared when I installed corner bifold doors in my kitchen cabinets. To get rid of this annoying gap, I decided to make the main door (the one [...]

Easy Pen Assembly

      Press fitting pen parts requires a deft touch, but you don't need a special clamp or vise to do the job: I use my lathe and a pair of 1-1/2-in.-thick hardwood blocks. [...]

Toggle Clamp Sanding Block

        I made this quick-release sanding block from four pieces of 1/2-in. -thick birch plywood. The top three pieces are glued together. Wrap a quarter sheet of sandpaper [...]

Save the Straw

        A can of lubricant is very useful around the shop, and so is the little red straw…if you can find it after the first use! I figured out that the straw fits in [...]

No-Slip Miter Gauge Face

      Trimming miters used to drive me crazy, because I couldn’t hold the piece I was trimming securely enough against the miter gauge. The piece would always slide away from [...]

Sliding Drill Press Table

        Why doesn’t a drill press come with an adjustable fence? My solution is essentially a two-part table. The fence (C) is attached to the top part, which slides on [...]

Who Would Make Such a Stupid Rule?

In the history of measuring equipment, there is one blunder so awful that it makes me twitter (old-school twitter) like a smack-addled squirrel every time I encounter it. It’s a 6″ [...]

Tweaking a New Stanley No. 4

When the new premium planes from Stanley arrived, it was agony. I was in the middle of another project and had to just stare at them for a week before I could get my mitts on them. The first tool [...]

Learning Finishing from Glen D. Huey

This morning I’m putting the finishing touches on our new DVD, “Finishes that Pop with Glen D. Huey.” In the Popular Woodworking shop, Glen talks about finishing in passing , [...]

Finishes that Pop

Your design is superb and your joinery is first class, but you want more from your woodworking projects. Building a project is only half the work. There’s finishing the piece, too. And for [...]

Start typing and press Enter to search