Author name: Enthusiast

Until yesterday, I’d not seen a left-handed antique workbench in the wild. While I’m sure there are some out there, the historical record suggests that left-handed woodworkers usually made do with right-handed benches and learned to plane with their dominant hand on the toe of a handplane. While poking around Bloodline Merchants, a delightful import business in Cincinnati, we stumbled on this bench which, like my bench in my shop, […]

The post Antique Lefty Workbench in the Wild appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

At the conclusion of every gift guide, I like to offer a tool that is a bit expensive but will change the way you work or – at the least – wildly exceed your expectations. This year, it’s the Blue Spruce Try Square. When I first saw photos of the square on the Internet, the tools looked a little plastic-y, probably because of the different color schemes available. But when […]

The post Anarchist’s 2016 Gift Guide, Day 10: Blue Spruce Try Square appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Once you finish creating a nice miter joint, then comes the time to think about making the joint stronger. As glue alone will not suffice, adding splines or keys in between the two banks of the miter can ensure a long lasting joint. If you have a Festool Domino this is going to be a cakewalk, but since many of us don’t have access to one here are a few other […]

The post Reinforcing and Gluing a Waterfall Miter Joint appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The Veritas Workshop Striking Knife (I just call it a “marking knife” or “knife”) is my new Fridge Super Magnet. Huh? Well, on the rare times I actually remember to place my orders during one of Lee Valley’s free shipping events (instead of what usually ends up being two days before or after said events), in order to reach the spend threshold to qualify for the free shipping, I inevitably […]

The post The Anarchist’s Editor’s Gift Guide, Item 4: Veritas Striking Knife appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Yes, yes. It might seem self-serving for me to recommend a subscription to Popular Woodworking Magazine as a holiday gift, but I firmly believe that what we publish is worth reading. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t work here. Here’s our mission statement: We inspire furniture makers of all skill levels with a broad range of historical and contemporary tools, techniques, topics and projects that touch on all facets of the […]

The post The Anarchist’s Editor’s Gift Guide, Item 3: PWM Subscription appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The following statement contains 99 percent corn, but the remaining 1 percent is what gets me moving in the morning. The greatest woodworking gift isn’t a tool or a shop accessory. It’s watching someone else fall in love with the craft based on something you’ve done. If there’s someone in your life who might be teetering on the edge of becoming a woodworker, purchase “Good Clean Fun” by Nick Offerman […]

The post Anarchist’s 2016 Gift Guide, Day 9: ‘Good Clean Fun’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.