Archives

Woodworking as a craft is one of mankind’s oldest uses of technology, and each generation has passed along knowledge about how to, when to and why to. Technology has changed within the [...]

It isn’t unusual for a member of the Popular Woodworking Magazine staff to spend vacation time to attend a woodworking class. Usually I go to teach, but last week I found myself in Montana [...]

  When I think of a hobbyist woodworker I tend to think of a middle aged guy with a mix of tools parked in a corner of a basement or garage. That’s the demographic of our readers, more or [...]

These days when you read about high school wood shops, it’s almost always in the context of a program shutting down, the equipment auctioned off and resources diverted to sending every kid that [...]

Early on in my woodworking career, I fancied myself a designer. I wanted to create new and exciting stuff and managed to have my work accepted in some pretty good arts & crafts shows. My [...]

There are many ways to learn woodworking and I think making a project is way better than getting bogged down in theory, tool collecting or setting up the ultimate shop. A good project offers a [...]

Best Wood Types for Finger Joints The type of wood used will make a difference in how forgiving the joint is to put together. Softer woods, such as pine or poplar, will compress when assembled. [...]

The difference between school and real life is that in real life the tests come first and then the lessons. This is especially true of woodworking; you never know how far you should take one step [...]

Learning woodworking isn’t just about “how to” do something. A good example of this comes from my days as an apprentice in a commercial cabinet shop. I entered the experience [...]

When I teach woodworkers about SketchUp we always reach a point where I say, “the level of detail to include in your model is up to you”. Then I explain the level that I usually work [...]

Hollow-chisel mortisers are one of my favorite tools. When mortising machines were first invented, a drill bit and a chisel were mounted side by side. Ralph and Robert Greenlee changed all that, [...]

There was a time when nearly even adult male in the United States owned a Stanley #4 smooth plane. The one I have was passed down to me by my dad (a chemical engineer) who got it from his dad …