Author name: Enthusiast

The dovetail is the drawer joint of choice in many a classic drawer, but for a more mechanized world, the drawer joint of choice is often the half-blind tongue-in-groove. Sturdy, interlocking, mechanical without the need of nails, and quickly made on a table saw this joint often appears in commercial cabinetry (in a good way). This drawer joint can be used for inset drawers (as shown in the video excerpt below […]

The post Video: Sturdy Drawer Joint on a Table Saw appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

We’re entering mid-summer and you may be thinking of applying a clear finish to some project that will be exposed to sunlight outside. What finish should you use? Be careful. All finishes marketed for exterior surfaces aren’t the same, no matter the claims of manufacturers. The distinction in exterior clear finishes is whether they contain UV-resistant additives, called “UV inhibitors” or “UV absorbers.” And whether they contain enough of these […]

The post The Best Kind of Clear Finish to use Outdoors – The Difference Between Varnish and Spar Varnish appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’ve gotten to know Chad Stanton over the past few years while filming almost three seasons of I Can Do That. In that time, I’ve seen Chad build an abundance of appealing projects, and learned woodworking techniques that have helped me in my own builds. It has never occurred to me to ask Chad why he does what he does though. Honestly, I’ve never thought to ask myself the ambitious […]

The post #WhyIMake | Chad Stanton appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Last December when I started this series on the Maslow CNC, my goal was to evaluate the $350 kit with a focus on how it might fit into a hobbyist woodworker’s world — the kind of machine a woodworker in a home shop who might want to try a bit of digital woodworking at a low price. With that in mind, I look at the Maslow CNC and come up […]

The post How does the Maslow CNC fit in the Woodworking World? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’ve never properly used a drafting table but I have fond memories of snooping around the offices when I went to work with my dad and playing with my uncle’s motorized drafting table. I mean, come on, a table that was controlled with pedals was pretty amazing to a young kid! Since the days of motorized drafting tables have passed, a multitude of software options have come to market. Many packages […]

The post SketchUp or Fusion 360? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Recently, a woodworker who’s about to start building a set of cabinets for her own kitchen asked me how I apply heat-sensitive edge banding to doors and drawer faces when working with architectural veneers. She’d done some similar work before but had problems with tear-out during trimming. Here’s my technique, a hybrid between the system used at the first shop where I encountered this type of veneer work and some […]

The post Edge Banding Architectural Veneer in a Small Shop appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.