Author name: Enthusiast

Wedging joints adds great strength, but it also is risky. A wedge can split the work, it can fail to dive into the tenon (sometimes popping out of the tenon), or the tenon itself can split when you hit it, making a mess of things. Here are three things I do to reduce the risk. 1. Make lots of wedges. When I make wedges, I usually make at least 100 […]

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A Good Year for Digital Woodworking Tools Using a 3-axis CNC, the underside of a sofa table’s ovoid shaped top is being rough cut in 3D. The edge is a combination of a tapered angular bevel on the sides that graduates to a progressively curved taper over the length of the top. Sounds complicated, but once you work out the design in 3D CAD software and do the CAM programming, it’s an easy […]

The post Digital Woodworking Tools in 2016 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

All finishes craze ­– that is, develop small cracks – as they age, especially if they are exposed to a lot of sunlight. But there’s another type of crazing, and it can happen much faster. This is crazing caused by body sweat. You commonly see crazing of this type around cabinet-door pulls and drawer handles, and on chair backs, arms and wooden seats. This type of crazing is caused by […]

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A stout “deadman” or “bench slave” is one of simplest jigs you can build, and it can be an invaluable addition to any workbench with a tail vise. You clamp this fixture, which is essentially a heavy block of wood that rests on the floor, into your tail vise and set a pin into an appropriate hole to support the end of long pieces of wood you want to work […]

The post Workbench Slave (aka Deadman) a la Tage Frid appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Below are Christopher Schwarz’s “12 Rules for Tool Chests” in short form (the full article, as it appeared in the December 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, is downloadable at the end.) The chest pictured here is his full-size traditional English tool chest, but the rules apply no matter the chest. (You’ll find instruction on building an English tool chest on Chris’ video “Make a Traditional English Tool Chest” (Popular […]

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The February issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (#230) just mailed to print subscribers and emailed to digital subscribers. It’s live in our online store too. This is a solid issue that’s sure to keep you busy for some time – Bill Rainford’s Tage Frid-inspired mid-century workbench is a challenge that will stand (strong – it’s sturdy) as testimony to your woodworking skills. And Willard Anderson’s tricked-out knock-down shaving horse, featuring […]

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