Author name: Enthusiast

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.

There are dozens of ways to drill dog holes that dead-nuts plumb, and I’ve written about many of them during the last 17 years. My favorites use the fewest tools and jiggery – not everyone has a big plunge router with massive bits or can clamp a drill press to the benchtop. This method uses a 2×4, a drill and a bit. First you need to drill a plumb hole […]

The post Another Way to Drill Plumb Dog Holes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I can finally put a tick next to something that’s long been on my “to do” list: Learn how to build a Welsh stick chair. With all that’s going on with my house right now (I just started tear-out on one of the bathrooms and still haven’t finished the stairs), I knew it would be years before I would get around to a chair build on my own time. So, […]

The post Welsh Stick Chair Video: A Different Approach appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.