Years ago Don McConnell (now with Clark & Williams plane makers) shamed me into sharpening my own saws. He was down for a photo shoot and I mentioned that I had sent a saw out to be sharpened [...]
I swore a blood oath I would never write about the “nib” on a saw , the ornamental protrusion found at the toe of some old saws. And I won’t break that oath. I will, however, [...]
What’s this? It’s a lovely mountain scene that would make Bob Ross proud. Happy little trees. Oh look, the big gymnosperm is reflected in the water. I can almost taste the wood smoke [...]
Perhaps I’m the oddball here, but I’ve always found cutting tenons by hand to be more challenging than any sort of dovetailing. Tenons require a lot of precision sawing if you want to [...]
This thing is a work of art, and if you have an extra $375 it can be yours. Sadly, I have already sold my share of plasma this month or I’d buy it myself. What’s really cool about the [...]
Ripping boards by hand is a lot like working. And so I’m always looking for different techniques (other than buying a Bowflex machine and steroids) to do it with less effort. This weekend I [...]
Dovetail maestro Rob Cosman again makes us all feel inadequate with his latest video in which he cuts a half-blind dovetail joint in 6 minutes and 52 seconds. Cosman uses Northern white pine, [...]
My search for a coping saw that will hold its blade setting is starting to feel a little like an episode of “In Search of…” with Leonard Nimoy. The solution might be as elusive [...]
My co-workers branded me with a nickname in the 1990s after I took apart our shop’s Bosch plunge router and replaced the brushes on its commutator. After reassembling the Bosch and putting [...]
Here in America we will put a motor on just about anything. Picnic tables. Ice cream cones. Scissors. And yet, it was still a surprise when I stumbled on a motorized coping saw for sale on eBay. [...]
Of all the power tools I own, I think my scariest, oops-I-crapped-my-pants moments have been with a power miter saw. When knocking down rough stock, miter saws have a tendency to [...]
Before you buy one of the FatMax coping saws that I praised this week, take note. Take apart the saw and examine the blade connectors before you plunk down the $10. Yesterday I received a [...]