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A rescue and careful work reveal the spirit of land and sea. I have lusted for years after the wide, irregular planks used by the legendary George Nakashima to capture what he called “the soul of [...]

While this natural Danish finish looks beautiful, it’s high-maintenance. You may be surprised to learn that a quite popular finish for furniture and floors in Denmark, and other northern European [...]

A gnarly old conifer finds new life on a recognized California estate. In 1908, architects Charles and Henry Greene built one of their most famous residences, the Robert R. Blacker House. In [...]

Raking light through windows is the clear winner in a hand-tool shop. In 2007, I was a speaker at Colonial Williamsburg’s Furniture Forum, and there I met Adam Cherubini. He was in costume in the [...]

One of the most challenging tasks in wood finishing is matching the color of an existing object, color swatch or photo in a magazine. Most people try to accomplish this with just a stain, but it [...]

Inside Job While building kitchen cabinets, I purposefully chose straight-grained lumber for the doors’ stiles and rails and bought expensive, highly-figured boards to make the panels. In [...]

One of the first tools I bought was a 9″ steel try square with a brass and rosewood stock. Like a supermodel, it’s nice to look at, but not so fun to deal with day-to-day. Its blade is too [...]

Consider yourself a midwife to creativity. By Brian Boggs Page: 64 From the December 2011 issue #194

One Coat Coverage I had finished building new frame and panel doors for my kitchen cabinets and knew the stain would really make the grain pop. I laid the first door on my workbench, with the [...]

Kids’ imaginations are inversely proportional to their attention spans. By David Ross Puls Page: 58 From the August 2010 issue #184

In December I built a large traditional tool chest for my shop at home, and I couldn’t stop staring at the end grain of the wide pine planks I’d selected for the walls of the chest. Though I work [...]

I’m a sucker for new year’s resolutions. As a pragmatic optimist, I really like the idea of a fresh start, a time to make your life better, for no other reason than a pope in the 16th Century [...]