How to Make Dovetailed Drawers
Fine furniture calls for an elegant drawer. A master cabinetmaker shares his approach to design and fitting. There are just a few things my partner at Philadelphia Furniture Workshops, Alan [...]
Traditional Hide Glue Veneering
Learn traditional methods with a veneer hammer and hot hide glue. Veneering has been practiced for thousands of years. It’s a way to take some of the world’s most spectacular but unstable woods, [...]
The Art of Resawing
Resawing can be a wild ride. You never know exactly what’s going to happen when you cut open a board! Just getting your tablesaw or bandsaw to work right can be an adventure, too. Resawing [...]
New Hope Blanket Chest
Inspired by traditional Pennsylvania design, this chest is a dovetailer’s delight. I’ll bet that there’s a blanket chest somewhere on your honey-do list. It’s a useful piece that looks great in [...]
Portsmouth Card Table
Restrained elegance in an American classic. Someday in your woodworking career, you’ll want to reach for the sky. Maybe you’ll have an urge to make an ambitious piece of your own design, or [...]
Veneering the Curve
The ‘flat-board-first’ method enables you to veneer a curved part with any pattern you want. Boldness with balance—that’s how I see the front apron of a classic Federal card table. I love the way [...]
Shop-made Bandings
Learn to make your own and you’ll never have to compromise your design. Bandings and stringing are a dramatic and exciting way to dress up your period furniture. I see them as a way to highlight [...]
Ruhlmann Tabouret
Create sultry sophistication with Art Deco details. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1933) is considered by craftspeople, collectors and designers to be the premier Art Deco furniture maker; he was [...]
Mid-century Coffee Table
Top this sleek design with patterned veneer – it’s much easier than it looks. All over the country, mid-century designs, with their sleek surfaces and clean lines, are turning up in high-style [...]
Monticello Lap Desk
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Benjamin Randolph, a Philadelphia cabinetmaker, to build a compact lap desk to serve as a portable office. This small mahogany box, now prominently [...]
The Metropolitan Console
Back in the 1950s, traditional cabinetmakers in Scandinavian workshops produced sleek, powerful furniture using modern materials and modest machines. This project pays homage to those exciting [...]