Author name: Enthusiast

The most common questions that I hear are about how to go about learning to use digital woodworking tools? And, as woodworkers how do you use these tools to get the best out of them? In this post and the one following, I’ll point out different ways to learn how to use these tools. First an overall view. Then some suggestions on different ways to learn how to use digital tools. […]

The post Learning to Use Digital Woodworking Tools  appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Now that Thanksgiving is over and all of my pants seemed to have shrunk, it’s time to get back to work. I made a quick SketchUp model of the traveling tool chest that I’ve decided to build in case of roadside emergencies. The Plan I’m going to build the disaster tool chest out of pine and cover it with milk paint to match my Dutch chest. It’s going in the back of […]

The post Traveling Disaster Tool Chest: SketchUp appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A reader thought he remembered my cautioning against applying paste wax over water-based finish or latex paint. His memory was that I had said that paste wax could damage these coatings. This is not true, of course. There’s no problem applying most paste waxes over water-based finish or latex paint. But the source of the confusion could still be me because I have said that one brand of paste wax, […]

The post Will Paste Wax Damage a Finish? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When both edges of your slab are “live edge” you can’t rely on them for crosscutting or sawing off accurate miters. This is because tucking a live edge against the fence of a crosscut sled will not provide you with a stable support, nor will it ensure a miter that is perpendicular to the slab’s center line (the line that spans along the length of the slab). So what should […]

The post Cutting a Waterfall Miter on the Table Saw: Two Live Edges appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

  On the cusp of his 80s, Wendell Castle revels in the techniques that launched his career. by Scott Gibson From the November 2012 issue, a collection of features articles on woodworkers It is a cool June morning, and a light northwest breeze is clearing out yesterday’s squalls over western New York State. By 9 a.m., Wendell Castle is in his studio, alone, working on a drawing of a chair. […]

The post Wendell Castle: The Art of Furniture appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A common question is: “How can I know if the wood I’m using is going to blotch when I apply a stain or finish?” This question comes up most often when finishing cherry, which has become a very popular wood. The solution is actually rather simple. Anytime you wet wood, you create the same look you get with a finish – that is, something that changes from a liquid to […]

The post How to Predict that a Wood will Blotch appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.