Author name: Enthusiast

I’ve long been fascinated by handmade utility furniture: the kind of stuff made to be used, not admired for the craftsmanship invested in its production. In the early 1980s, I bought an old chest of drawers from an antique shop in Reading, a large industrial town southwest of London, where I lived at the time. It was made of a nondescript softwood known as deal and had originally been painted. […]

The post Perfectly Imperfect Furniture appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Editor’s note: With the holidays upon us, we’re looking through the magazines and books we own for fun handmade gifts – things that you can build in not too much shop time, but that will help to create a lifetime of memories for the recipients. This is Holiday Project Post number five – for the “Pint-sized Pickup,” click here; for a Craftsman-style Wall Shelf, click here; for “Heirloom Photo Album” […]

The post Holiday Gift Projects! Table-Top Skittles appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This year when people ask me what they should get their woodworking family and friends for the holidays, my first answer is always a board of hardwood. But if they have a tool in mind, things get harder to suggest. Below are items I recommend because they work for most types of woodworking and if they already have one, then having another is welcome. 1) Sloyd Woodworking Knife – On […]

The post 5 Inexpensive Gifts a Woodworker Will Use appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The first week of December to Remember is over! I have drawn the following winners at random. Continue to enter throughout the month of December! December 1: Jim Dunn, Alabama December 2: Donald Nay, West Virginia December 3: David Hodgerson, Iowa December 4: Douglas Slater, Wisconsin December 5: R. Mark Underwood, Texas December 6: Eric Webb, Georgia December 7: Heidi Smith, Michigan

The post Week One Winners – December to Remember 2017 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A while ago I blogged about a Breast Drill that I bought on eBay and restored. I also mentioned that it is hard to find a good quality drills with concealed gears on the market today. After I wrote the blog I found a supplier of drills who held (and still does) a few tools on stock. I bought one drill for myself and three for our woodworking program. The […]

The post New Old Stock of Italian Made Breast Drills appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I love wooden tool handles. Their only downside is they break and need to be repaired or replaced. If you prefer to repair your tool handles, the inexpensive Clamptite tool is your best friend. The Clamptite is a bit difficult to explain to people who haven’t used it. Basically, it is a device that can pull a wire tight and then cleverly knot it around an object, such as a […]

The post Anarchist’s 2017 Gift Guide, Day 8: Clamptite Tool appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.