Author name: Enthusiast

In the June 2018 Issue of Popular Woodworking, I wrote an article on building the Blacker Entry Mirror. While I was writing it, a funny thing happened. I got a little carried away. For those that know me, they understand that “going all the way” or “jumping into the deep end” isn’t all that unusual for me. In fact, it’s pretty much the norm for anything I do. It’s my […]

The post The Complete Guide to Building the Blacker Mirror appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This week I’m headed to Germany to teach a couple classes at Dictum in Bavaria. I don’t teach much anymore, but I make a grand exception for Dictum for several reasons. The biggest reason? The woodworkers overseas are much more hardcore than those in North America. Amateur woodworkers in the European Union (EU) have an uphill battle for the following reasons (and many more): Wood is much more difficult to […]

The post Woodworking Overseas is a Rocky Road appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

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.