The awl is one of the most useful tools in woodworking and perhaps the most basic of them all. Awls help to initiate indentations into which screws, nails, and drill bits will bore. We use them [...]
It’s an age-old question I hear uttered hundreds of times a year: What hand tool should I buy first? Without context, the question is impossible to answer. Most times, I fire back several [...]
One of the first things that many people notice when advancing the blade of a Preston/Record style shoulder plane (today’s Clifton and Lie Nielsen planes are based on that design) is a scratching [...]
A few years ago, my friend Cambell Albritton gifted me with a small Clifton #410 shoulder plane that he no longer needed. The plane was still in its original box but unfortunately developed a few [...]
Tool: Box-Maker’s Plow Plane Shop Now Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $159 One of the stand out hand tools of recent years was Veritas’s release of their plough plane. It’s the perfect tool for [...]
Bringing an old hand plane back to life is simple to do, and will yield a top-not tool. When I build a project, I use a variety of “fancy” tools (readers’ words, not mine). Lie-Nielsen, [...]
Tool: Card Scraper and Dual-Handle Burnishers Shop Now Manufacturer: Blue Spruce Toolworks MSRP: $21.99 The very first hand tool that I ever purchased was a set of Lie-Nielsen card [...]
An ancient European tool that still has a place in the modern American shop. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Why [...]
My son is seven years old, and so far, I have tried to refrain from proselytizing woodworking to him. My hypothesis, at least for now, is that the love for woodworking should come naturally and [...]
Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Popular Woodworking gift guide! This year we’re featuring a ton of great gifts for woodworkers, no matter what skill level they’re at. Know your [...]
A notched batten is one of the best jigs you can make to help in hand planning. This simple thin hardwood strip has a hoof-shaped notch at its end and is used to prevent boards from shifting [...]
This versatile hand tool should be every woodworker’s first plane purchase. As a “professional woodworker” I often get asked what’s the best bang-for-the-buck tool by people getting into [...]
