Reading and Working with the Grain, a Simple Tip
Perhaps the most important characteristic of wood is its grain. And grain orientation is undoubtedly the most critical consideration for charting a plan for cutting, milling and shaping wood. [...]
Design Brief No. 3: The Danish Campaign Chest
A lot of Danish Modern dressers are taller than your typical campaign chest because the designers added a drawer or two. But some of them look like the pieces shown here. After staring at the 25 [...]
Design Brief No. 2: The Danish Campaign Chest
So after looking at the 25 campaign chests in the previous post, did you spot any patterns? What I see with these chests is that most of them are a square shape that is perched on some sort of …
Design Brief No. 1: The Danish Campaign Chest
While there are a dozen good ways to design a piece of furniture, I can write intelligently only about my own methods. I designed my first piece of furniture in 1993 and have – surprisingly – [...]
On Seeking Perfection
Who hasn’t found themselves fussing over a project – running a plane over it just one more time or fretting over whether or not it needs another sanding? As with anything in life, the quest [...]
‘Woodwork by the Book’
Below is my “Out on a Limb” (the editor’s note) from the April 2016 issue, because I’ve had a couple folks ask me on social media recently what books I recommend. If I [...]
Spray Booth for a Small Shop
In the December, 2001 issue of Popular Woodworking (issue # 125) I wrote about how to construct a simple but safe home spray booth. This article was reproduced in my book, “Flexner on Finishing.” [...]
Squaring Up Cabinets – Don’t Forget the Back
When gluing up a frameless cabinet, we all know that we have to square up the carcase before the glue cures – otherwise the doors and drawers will never fit well. When working with beginners and [...]
Making a Workbench – Part 2
As I worked through my recent workbench project, I got a comment on one of the build videos about how the build might not be suitable for the inexperienced woodworker. I reflected on that for a [...]
Update on Sherwin-Williams buying Valspar
In my March 22 posting I passed on the report that Sherwin-Williams is buying Valspar for $11 billion creating one huge supplier of many brands of finishing products we use. But not so fast. Now [...]
James Krenov in the 1990s
When James Krenov died in late 2009 (wow, has it been that long?) I wondered at great length what would happen to his reputation. For some undefinable reason, when some influential woodworkers [...]
Ask Us Anything May 23
On Monday, May 23 at 1PM EST, we (Megan Fitzpatrick and I) will be doing an AMA (ask me(us) anything) on the subreddit r/woodworking on Reddit to talk about Woodworking in America 2016. Meet us [...]