Archives

Tools: A Visual Exploration of Implements & Devices in the Workshop If there’s one thing to be said about woodworkers, it’s that we’re old school and prefer to pick up a book (or a magazine). [...]

Find a piece with great design, such as this Stickley No. 79 bookcase, then make adjustments to the construction to better match your skill set.

Two tones of color and sharp, square edges give this piece modern flair. Inspired by a design in the February 2008 issue of the German magazine Selbst, this “I Can Do That” project commenced (as [...]

It starts out the size of a smartphone and opens to make your reading (or cooking) easier. How-to books, cookbooks and sheet music are inconvenient to use while you’re in the workshop, kitchen or [...]

How to build a strong bookcase without a back. When I’m designing furniture, I often turn to the Arts and Crafts era for inspiration. I love this style. It’s simple, but elegant. When a client [...]

Learn the tricks to making sturdy furniture that folds flat. For those with mechanical minds, building furniture that folds into small spaces is great fun. Not only does the piece have to look [...]

They’re so easy and fun to make that you’ll want a dozen! If you can’t stand to throw away good wood, you’ve probably got a stack of short boards that are just waiting to [...]

Exposure to great furniture hones the eyes for quality and proportion. Woodworking is, all at once, frustrating, elating, challenging and straightforward stupid simple. It combines the elements [...]

With simple lines and straightforward joinery, this project yields ample shelf space (and drawers to boot). This large case-on-case shelving unit is adapted from similar pieces I’ve seen in [...]

Thoughts on Adam Savage’s Every Tool’s a Hammer Buy the book here You may recognize the man on the cover of this book, Adam Savage, as one half of the duo from TV’s “Mythbusters.” The show ran [...]

Though not as lightweight as an eReader, this portable library is far more stylish. Bookcases that fold up like a clamshell were common among British travelers of the 19th century. Soldiers, [...]

Thomas Jefferson’s book boxes became the foundation of the Library of Congress. I like to think of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library as America’s first “bookmobile.” When the British burned [...]