Author name: Enthusiast

I posted on my Instagram yesterday (and above here) a duck my grandfather, Emmett, carved shortly before he died. He trained as a cabinetmaker in high school (at Manual in Louisville), and worked briefly as a woodworker for the L&N Railroad (I have his railroad hatchet) before World War II intervened. He joined the Army Air Corps and served in Europe. After the war, he became a jewelry salesman (I’m sure […]

The post An Apron for Woodcarving (Or, How to Not Annoy the Person Who Cleans Your House) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I wrote the post below in…I’m not sure – 2010 maybe? I was reminded of it last weekend when Kathy, a second cousin (I think I’ve got the relation right), asked if I still had the plans for the stools my grandfather used to make for all the kids in the family. I think it’s her husband who wants to make one for their grandchild.  I made the stool as shown […]

The post Wilde Got it Wrong (Plus Plans for a Child’s Step Stool) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In the next few months, I’ve got a lot of furniture to make, as Josselyn (my partner) and I just moved to Cincinnati from Maine. Last week, I built a new coffee table for our place. This week I’m building us a new kitchen table, in between getting settled in my new job here and figuring out where to buy lumber (and food, clothing, etc.). Later this week I’ll post […]

The post Big Ol’ Sliding Dovetails appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Last month I taught two short classes in Germany – a rare exception to my vow to avoid teaching and instead focus on new furniture designs. The reason I taught those two classes is quite personal, so I won’t discuss it here. But during the classes I was struck by an odd question I’ve struggled with for 30 years: Is it a good idea for students to personally like their […]

The post Like Your Woodworking Teacher? Maybe You Shouldn’t appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Ever since water-based paints and finishes began carving out a market for replacing solvent-based products, claims for the amount of solvent these products contain have been getting increasingly lower. That is, until a few years ago when some products actually began claiming zero VOCs. I’ve been suspicious of this claim ever since I first saw it. Even though resin manufacturers have been getting better at making resins that form a […]

The post Suspicions Confirmed: Zero VOC Claims Exaggerated appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I had a peculiar childhood, I grew up running CNCs and robots before I got my drivers license. Perhaps it was that experience that led me to believe that every other woodworker was as interested in the future of automation as me – I think I may have gotten ahead of myself. Before I attended the AutoDesk Fusion 360 Roadshow in Columbus, Ohio, I wrote a post and asked our […]

The post Autodesk Fusion 360 Roadshow appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.