Author name: Enthusiast

Almost every plastic or aluminum dustpan I’ve used has been disappointing. The aluminum ones bend too easily and make it impossible to capture fine dust. And plastic ones are just that: plasticy. So like any half-decent woodworker, I set out this fall to build my own. Shopmade dustpans were once a common sight, so it’s not like my idea is original. But finding plans for a rotating dustpan with a […]

The post Coming Soon: A Handmade Dustpan appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One of my resolutions for the new year is to post more updates about our progress with book projects and share tips or ideas I learn from them … and so, a quick update from your friendly neighborhood book editor: We have a couple of great titles coming down the pike. I’m currently editing “The Practical Workshop” which covers workshop setup, organization and optimizing your workspace. The book is compiled from our magazine archives […]

The post Workshop Setup & Handplanes: Two Books on the Horizon appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Combine power and hand tools to improve your joinery skills. by Thomas J. MacDonald first published in the December 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine Building a toolbox much like this one was a real turning point in my woodworking career. It was 1999 and I had begun classes at Boston’s North Bennet Street School’s Cabinet and Furniture Making program. At the time, I was a pretty good carpenter and […]

The post Tommy Mac’s Toolbox appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Blacksmith Peter Ross recently sent me a link to the video below that shows production nailmaking of shoe nails in a town in Austria. These guys are working at breakneck speed – forget those modern videos you see of amateur smiths working in their garages. If you’ve never read about pre-industrial nail production, it was a hard life. In the United Kingdom and its colonies, nailmaking was many times a […]

The post Cool Nailmaking Video from Austria appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When you shoot end grain with a handplane, you have to be wary of spelching – when the end grain breaks off at the end of your stroke. There are several ways to avoid spelching; one of the quick ways is to use sandpaper. This trick works best when you are just trying to clean up some end grain by removing tool marks. If you are instead trying to correct […]

The post Stop Spelching with an Unlikely Ally: Sandpaper appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Part One: Questions & Answers about Mills & Bits Yes, the topic of CNC mills can be complicated. Because of the overwhelming minutiae of design detail and a bewildering number of choices, there’s more than enough to intimidate any CNC user. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Fortunately, woodworkers have a fairly narrow focus: Cutting wood on a CNC. We have special considerations to consider but the good […]

The post CNC Tooling Basics for Woodworkers appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.