Author name: Enthusiast

The topics of United States clamp manufacturing and hardware hoarding might seem unrelated, and many of you will certainly think that they deserve two separate entries. In this story, however, I will try to show you how they can be “clamped” together quite successfully. Recently I decided we needed to add a few more clamps to the woodworking program at school. I wish we could have bought some domestically made […]

The post Demise of U.S. Clamp Makers & A Defense of Hardware Hoarding appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In Part One and Part Two of this series on small shop CNCs, I introduced machines in this group that are designed to perform well in home and small professional shops. What they have in common is the size range and their engineering, design, components, specifications and build. Now, it’s time for a closer look at one of the machines and a review of the Laguna IQ. There’s a lot […]

The post Laguna Tools IQ CNC Review: Part One appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Making large-diameter mortises for chairs or staked tables requires big drill bits and a way to drive them. Usually a drill press won’t work because the workpiece is too large and the angles are too odd. So here are some bits that work – and some to avoid. To drive big bits (1-1/4” and bigger), you probably need a corded drill. I’ve tried using a brace, but that’s a tall […]

The post Drill Bits for Chairs & Staked Furniture appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The Popular Woodworking team is looking forward to the end of this week – instead of reporting to the office for work on Friday morning, we’ll be meeting bright and early at Braxton Brewing Co. to set up for the 2017 Greater Cincinnati Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event. I’ll be there Saturday as well…but perhaps not bright nor early – but by 10 a.m. for sure! (That’s when the doors open […]

The post Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event March 10-11, Greater Cincinnati appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

For my column in the current issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, April, 2017 (#231), I wrote about how brands of water-soluble dye stains sold to the woodworking community differ. One of the differences is the degree to which they can be redissolved and lightened by wiping over with a wet cloth. My point was that you can choose for the characteristics you want, and I included a picture that was […]

The post Brands of Dye Stain Differ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When I was learning to sharpen and set saws in the 1990s, I was desperate for information. All I had was one modern book, a somewhat helpful video and the attempts I had made on my bargain basement saws. It was a slog. While today there is a lot more information available on saws and saw sharpening, much of it is conflicting and more complex than necessary. Sharpening a saw […]

The post The One-stop Place for Saw Maintenance appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.