Author name: Enthusiast

Lt. Col. Hal Moore was credited with saving most of his men in the first major conflict of the Vietnam War at the Battle of la Drang. He was able to drop his men into the middle of an enemy stronghold – the only escape was straight up via helicopter. His company persevered. One virtue he instilled in his soldiers was that “there’s always one more thing you can do to increase […]

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While my mother isn’t a woodworker, I do have her to thank for my love of the craft. She collects antique furniture, and started doing so back when such things were more affordable and easy to find at yard sales. I also appreciate fine furniture, which I can only assume is a result of the furniture in my childhood home I wasn’t supposed to touch! But I can’t afford it unless I […]

The post Happy Mother’s Day to All Woodworking Moms (and Moms of Woodworkers) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In this series on mills and bits for digital woodworkers, I introduced the basics of end mill and router bit design. If you missed it, here’s the introduction and parts one, two and three. With the basics completed, it’s time to focus on which mills work best for specific purposes. One of the best uses for a CNC is for cutting parts so, let’s see what mills and bits work […]

The post CNC Tooling Basics — Mills & Bits for Cutting Wood Parts appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This clever and simple piece is great for storing tools, toys or a kimono by Christopher Schwarz from the December 2015 issue While picking though a table of vintage Japanese tools for sale in 2013, I spotted this sliding-lid box under the vendor’s table; it was blackened by age, soot and rust. Despite its scars, however, the box was still graceful and functional. The owner, a Japanese carpenter, wouldn’t part […]

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This week’s book giveaway is for Michael Crow’s “Mid-Century Modern Furniture: Shop Drawings & Techniques for Making 29 Projects.” The book includes mid-century modern furniture plans for a number of great projects by designers like Hans Wegner, George Nelson, Borge Mogensen, George Nakashima, Finn Juhl and others. We published this book a couple of years ago and lately I’ve been revisiting it because I’m currently working on Michael’s new book – a book […]

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  In this excerpt from “The Practical Workshop: A Woodworker’s Guide to Workbenches, Layout & Tools,” Christopher Schwarz discusses how the book can help you build your practical workshop quickly and effectively – so you can spend less time setting up your space and more time woodworking.  Over the years I’ve seen some of the most incredible (and humble) workshops all over the planet. Human nature being what it is, it’s easiest to […]

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