Author name: Enthusiast

If you go back to the early issues of U.S. woodworking magazines in the 1970s and ’80s and read about oil finishes, you’ll come away confused. The more you read the more confused you’ll become. I know this because I was there. The claims and explanations were all over the map. More often than not they were contradicting each other. The problem of course began with the manufacturers and their […]

The post Oil & Varnish: A Refresher appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In the recent Don Weber “Build a Welsh Stick Chair” class/video shoot, Don brought some pre-bent arms for us to use, simply to make things move along more quickly (filming a woodworking video is sometimes like filming a cooking show – some parts are prepped ahead of time). But he did bend a couple on camera, using a simple and inexpensive steam box setup, made with items you can easily […]

The post Cheap & Easy Steam Box Setup appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In Part One, I introduced the Laguna IQ 24″ x 36″ CNC. Above is Part Two of the video review. Conclusions I’ve had a Laguna IQ in the shop for a few weeks and put it to use on a variety of projects from part cutting to 3D carving. Like all the machines in this the class, I expected that the design, choice of components and solid construction would give […]

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

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.