Projects

Lock Miters This simple set-up process guarantees perfect joints! By George Vondriska Lock miters are strong, attractive joints that make assembly easy. So why the heck don’t we use lock miters [...]

Filling Nail Holes   Q: I am making an oak bookcase as a builtin for our living room. What’s the best way to fill the nail holes and finish the trim pieces once they’re in place? A: Don’t [...]

Touch up: Repairing a Damaged Finish Hide blemishes without refinishing. Touch up refers to techniques used to repair and disguise damage on already finished wood—without refinishing. Whether [...]

Treasured Board Table One precious board is all you need. By Tom Caspar Every woodworker discovers an extraordinary piece of wood once in a while. What do you do with it? One board is not enough [...]

Vertical Panel Clamping Gluing panels and other large assemblies vertically saves floor space and is easier on your back—you don’t have to carry anything. Make the crossbar from [...]

Okay, I like animals, and the title of this post is a play on the James Herriot novel. I saw a robin outside the other day. I’m taking it to be either the first sign of spring or the first …

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Hand-Planed Moldings Use a pair of planes to create custom profiles. By Bill McCarthy A woodworker who needs a small amount of hardwood molding for a furniture or cabinet project is often out of [...]

Tablesaw Tenoning Jig A precision joint-making tool for less than $30. By Frank Gregg A tablesaw tenoning jig is an essential tool for most woodworkers. But commercial units cost $100 and up, and [...]

Blade Alignment I made this rig to check the alignment of my tablesaw blade with the miter gauge slot. I don’t own a precision dial indicator, so I devised one using an ice pick and a [...]

I design a lot of furniture in SketchUp. Some of it requires the SketchUp user to use intermediate or expert SketchUp skills. In the interest of sparking reader questions I thought I would share [...]

Plane Stand Every so often I need to plane down a piece of wood that is too small for my jointer. To handle these small jobs, I devised a stand for my No. 5 Stanley jack plane. The plane rests …