Author name: Enthusiast

In the video excerpt below, Doug Dale, instructor at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, explains the three basic table saw blades – rip cut, crosscut and combination – and show you how each one makes the cut. And, he tells you the one he thinks should be in every shop. For more from Doug on proper and safe use of this machine, check out his “Power Tool Essentials: The […]

The post Table Saw Blades that Make the Cut appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

You may have come across the term “water-white” for describing finishes. It’s a little confusing. It means a finish that is totally devoid of amber coloring in liquid form. The finish looks like water in the can. It doesn’t look white. In practice, the term is used to describe a type of lacquer, and sometimes a catalyzed (conversion) varnish. But you should be aware that water-white doesn’t necessarily mean non-yellowing. […]

The post ‘Water-white’ – What That Means in Finishing appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Last summer, upon accepting the position of managing editor here at Popular Woodworking Magazine, I wrote a blog post publicly asking myself if I was a woodworker. Today, as I begin my final week in this role, I’m only slightly closer to a definitive answer. Sorry – burying the lede is an old writer’s habit of mine (same with posting misleading photos). Yes, I’m leaving my position at Popular Woodworking […]

The post A Good Goodbye appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

by Bob Flexner Safer strippers are having a ‘green’ revival. Methods for removing old paint and finish from furniture have gone through at least four distinct periods. Before solvents became widely available, coatings were removed by scraping, often with glass used like we use scrapers, and sometimes by sanding, after sandpaper became available. (Heat and caustics such as lye have never been a good idea for furniture because they can […]

The post Alternative Paint Strippers appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Flush-cutting saws offer an amazing promise: It can cut a dowel or tenon flush to its surrounding surface without causing any damage. The truth is, however, no matter how awesome your flush-cutting saw is or how skilled you are, things can go wrong. The most common problem is the saw can drift slightly. And with a flush-cutting saw, any drifting can be disastrous. The teeth can dive into the work […]

The post The Truth About Flush-cutting Saws appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Along with 64,000 or so (at least as of today) other people, I follow Goebel & Co. Furniture on Instagram. The furniture pieces coming out of this St. Louis-based shop are well-built and beefy, with imaginative designs that in many cases make use of live-edge tops that are stabilized with epoxy. (And take a look at some of the table bases – they’re pretty astounding!) So when we were looking […]

The post Use Epoxy for Filling Gaps & Bark Inclusions – Martin Goebel appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.