Archives

A rotary tool, hammer and a few shop-made tools are all it takes. I recently had the opportunity to explore a concept that has been rattling around the dark recesses of my cranium for almost [...]

This simple piece keeps your favorite cooking implements close at hand. I like having the pots, pans and cooking utensils I use most often within easy reach of my stove, and this simple pot rack [...]

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, [...]

Whether I’m working in the shop, remodeling or performing routine maintenance around the house, I am in constant need of a sturdy, lightweight worktable. The most popular one for, oh, the past [...]

When you slide open a small drawer that fits nice and tight, it’s a pleasure to see well-crafted joints.  Small, handcut dovetails answer well, but sawing and chopping them requires a lot [...]

Faux graining is the art of illusion. Use this technique, and your choices aren’t constrained by what woods are available or what’s shown in the veneering catalogs (or your bank account); you are [...]

Make Boxes to fit your books – and your space The typical bookcase is a good example of poor design. We make them that way because that’s the way we’ve always made them; almost every plan you see [...]

On April 21, 1868, the United States Patent Office issued Patent Number 76,884 to Wessel Brodhead for an improvement to the field of carpenters’ marking gauges. Brodhead developed a tool that [...]

Use two planks, two days and two piles of nails to make this age-old form Six-board chests have been an enduring form of furniture in Western cultures for hundreds of years. And while they differ [...]

Shop scraps and a few simple techniques will get you spinning along Large turning projects can be daunting. A large bowl, for example, requires gluing up a blank or sourcing part of a tree trunk. [...]

Add pizazz to your kitchen with contemporary curves. This article originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking For years, I’ve been trying to cajole Kelly Mehler to write [...]

* Read a tutorial on leveling Skansen Bench feet. * Visit Skansen’s web site. I’ve always liked things that are Swedish, impossibly overbuilt and yet somehow graceful. For example: my beloved [...]