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In the good old days, when a woodworker wanted to plane a board’s edge, he’d clamp one end in the bench’s face vise and support the cantilevered end with a free-standing devise called a [...]

After completing step (F), I used a gouge to hollow out the cove portion of the molding. I selected a gouge with a sweep that matched the cove radius and carefully shaved the wood in the [...]

The simplest tool in your chest is also the most sensitive and versatile; here’s how to set up a chisel to a high level and wield it like a maestro. It’s almost impossible to build furniture [...]

When making tenons for breadboard ends and other wide workpieces, the router is my tool of choice. Ensuring perfectly aligned rabbet shoulders on both sides of the board was a problem until I [...]

Learn how to choose and use these versatile shaping tools. As a Windsor chairmaker and spokeshave maker, I use a spokeshave more than any other tool. I have three: two straight shaves (large and [...]

Any push stick adds a measure of safety, but I prefer using one that straddles the saw’s fence. It lifts right off when I’m done. A saddle-style push stick has two clear advantages. First, [...]

Read part 1 After allowing the glue to set, I carefully removed the clamped molding from the guitar maker’s vise. At this point, I removed excess wood from the glued-up block using a bandsaw to [...]

  Tips for taming those awkward and heavy sheets. Woodworking alone is peaceful, serene and quiet. Just you, the radio and your project. It’s also a pain in the posterior when you have to [...]

A few months ago, I restored a tall case of drawers in green. While the piece was not old, antique, or of substantial emotional value, it was still quite practical as it was tall and had several [...]

Quick inspections reveal much about a piece’s age and possible origin. A while back, my wife and I were visiting friends who wanted to show us their collection of antique furniture. At one point [...]

When sawdust got packed into the back end of my planer’s blast gate, I couldn’t close the gate all the way.  I solved this annoying problem by cutting a notch in the gate. Now, when I close the [...]

Tighter Corner Joints Ahead Dadoes and, rabbets are two of the most widely used cabinetmaking joints. Cabinet carcasses, drawer boxes and jewelry boxes all lend themselves to this simple but [...]