The “Swiss Army” Pocket Knife for Carvers
The “Swiss Army” family of knives, and their contemporary descendants – the Multi-tools, are a good solution for on-the-go situations. Although these tools can never really be a perfect [...]
Last Chance To Catch An Amazing Show About Japanese Traditional Carpentry
I just found out via a friend that an amazing show about Japanese traditional carpentry and its tools is about to close in three days. The show, When Practice Becomes Form: Carpentry Tools from [...]
Small Bandsaw Upgrades Make a Big Difference – Part Two
After milling the parts for the shelf’s frame, rabbiting them, and cutting the miters, (read the first part of this story here) I connected them to the legs with screws. I found out that [...]
Small Bandsaw Upgrades Make A Big Difference
Six years ago my neighbor and friend Dave gifted me his vintage Sears Craftsman 12” band saw. I love this machine and use it quite a lot. Sears used to make these saws and sell them mainly to [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 2
Last week I showed how to source and install a missing swivel pad over the ball of a clamp’s screw. That kind of pad only works in a ball and socket situation, so what can we do with clamps that [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 1
I recently was gifted a few old bar clamps from a fellow member who belongs to our local FreeCycle group. FreeCycle.org is an internet-based group that promotes the free exchange of items and [...]
Japanese Fish Shaving Plane
Many of us have seen videos of Japanese hand planning competitions where the contenders are competing which individual (in some cases its a team) is capable of producing the widest, longest and [...]
Veritas Side-Clamping Honing Guide Review
Tool: Veritas Side-Clamping Honing Guide Shop Now Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $39.50 When I saw that Lee Valley has release two new honing guides last month I knew that I have to give [...]
Feeler Gauge for Jig Setup
Did you know that feeler fauges are not just for machinists or for checking and adjusting our steel and cast iron woodworking equipment? How do I know this? Because I recently found out that a [...]
Protect Your Chisel and Gouge Edges With Heat Shrink Tubing
While most newly-purchased chisels are supplied together with their integral guard, any vintage tool, mortise chisels, corner chisels, and all gouges do not come with such protection. A few [...]
A Good, Affordable Sanding block
One of the most mundane – but important- tools in our toolbox is a sanding block. We, and I include here my students in grades four to twelve, are using our sanding blocks during the last [...]
Repairing a Slippery Vise Mechanism
Two years ago I wrote about the ordeal of finding spare parts for the popular (but now discontinued) US-made Jorgensen rapid action vises. Unfortunately, after many years of smooth operation, the [...]