Author name: Enthusiast

When I first took on this blogging gig for Popular Woodworking I was concerned about coming up with enough ideas. Megan said, “just write about what you’re working on,” aware that my work is quite diverse. A short while back, David Lyell encouraged me to broaden my scope from techniques to occasional writing about design and other stuff. So I haven’t lacked for subject matter. What I do lack, though, […]

The post Garden gate – Part 2 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The hardware you use can make or break your project. Crappy hinges, lightweight pulls or cheesy locks have no place on a piece that you slaved over. While there are still some great hardware companies out there that sell new hardware (Horton Brasses, Ball & Ball and Whitechapel Ltd. to name a few), their range is obviously limited. That’s why you should never forget eBay.com as a source for hardware. […]

The post The Best Hardware is Cheaper than You Think appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Here’s an outdoor chair that you can build in a weekend, or if you are willing to take David Thiel’s word for it, in four hours! It’s made of pine and common materials, stuff you can get at the big box store. For this outdoor Morris Chair, David Thiel used paint to fend off the elements.  The back can be adjusted by moving the bar along the holes on the […]

The post Building the 4-Hour Outdoor Morris Chair appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

It’s not every day that I get excited about a bookstand, but there was something uniquely enticing about Chris Schwarz’s folding bookstand build in the June 2018 issue of Popular Woodworking. In true campaign furniture style, the “transformer-like” bookstand is constructed cleverly with copper rivets that double as both the joinery and pivot points. When the issue came, I put aside my current project and started cutting out the pieces […]

The post Folding Bookstand – Reader Build: Patrick Brennan appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The Classic Maloof Joint and Hal Taylor’s Modification Sam Maloof is a midcentury craftsman most famously known for his sculptural chairs. This is evident in the rounded corners, molded seats, and curved arms and backrests. His joinery also embodied this sculptural motif. I recently took a trip to Iowa to build a Maloof inspired sculpted rocker with my mentor, Tim Fuller. While I implemented some design and joinery modifications, the […]

The post How to Make a Maloof Joint appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A medium size machinist’s vise can be quite a handy tool in every shop and at every hobbyist/handyperson’s garage or studio. On top of helping us secure hardware and other small metal objects when drilling, sawing and filing, this vise can be very instrumental in providing assistance for shaping wooden objects. In my classroom, students use machinist’s vises (aka Bench vise)  to clamp small wooden knives, carved animals and other […]

The post Every Woodshop Needs a A Machinist’s Vise appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.