Author name: Enthusiast

Tapes and Rulers Early on, I remember reading somewhere that you should never rely on measuring tapes in a woodworking shop. Only use your rulers, never tapes. Though I understand the conclusion suggested because tapes are heavily used and vulnerable, I thought it seemed an odd idea. In practice, I neither agree with nor follow that rule. Because I make furniture — where many part dimensions are longer than most rules, […]

The post Precision Instruments for Woodworkers — Part Two: Rules and Tapes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Woodworkers tend to have very strong feelings about the different ways of doing things – and handplanes is one of those subjects where opinions can vary wildly and discussions can even get pretty heated. There are three main arguments about handplanes: bevel orientation, number of planes to use and body type. Bevel orientation refers to the way the iron sits in the plane. Shown above are a low angle bevel-up […]

The post Handplane Basics appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I really like Japanese style saws and I especially appreciate their contribution in the classroom. First, thanks to their ingenious tooth geometry, and the fact that they are so thin compared to their Western counterparts, they are easy to use and require little effort when pulling through a cut. Secondly, their teeth are hardened to a higher degree than their Western brethren’s which makes them usable for an exceptionally longer […]

The post How to Set Bent Teeth on a Japanese Style Saw appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A woodworker friend asked me what type colorants, pigment or dye, were used in Minwax stains. He had called Minwax and was told that they use only pigment, but this didn’t match with my friend’s experience. I found it not surprising at all that the Minwax tech didn’t understand his company’s products. It’s easy to tell the colorant used in a stain. Let the stain sit on a shelf for […]

The post Is There Pigment or Dye in Minwax Stains? Does it Matter? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The simple butt hinge is ubiquitous. Even if the doors of your kitchen cabinets hang on concealed European hardware and you swear by Brusso knife hinges for every piece of furniture you make, there’s a good chance that the architectural doors throughout your house, as well as most of the buildings you visit each day, are hung on butts. Architectural, or full-size, butt hinges are the beefier counterparts of their […]

The post Designing with Butts – Rediscover the Architectural Butt Hinge appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Episode #5 is live on Youtube! We’re really enjoying all the submissions and support from everyone – we have five great videos to share with you this week. Look out for more PopWood Playback episodes every Saturday morning on our Youtube channel. David will be returning next week, so in the meantime check out our picks this week: 🎥 Young Je – https://youtu.be/b_F8-atFOcQ 🎥 SE Woodwork – https://youtu.be/rxK-YFcCJco 🎥 Modern […]

The post PopWood Playback #5 | Top Woodworking Videos of the Week appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.