Author name: Enthusiast

I like to be honest about sharing what works well for me, even if that view might be unpopular: I sometimes recommend saws of the disposable type. And this and my following post, I’ll justify that. It can be a hard sell; “disposable” is a big mental hurdle to overcome – so I’ll deal with that first. When these saws become blunt they cannot be sharpened. But when most of […]

The post Cheap Saws – Part 1 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One question to ask of any style is whether it can stand the test of time. Leather motorcycle jacket? Sure. Red satin disco jacket? No. This holds true with furniture. When it comes to woodworking, 18th-century furniture is perennially popular. Many 18th-century pieces are like the leather motorcycle jacket; they’re stylish, but serve a practical purpose. A spice chest will build your joinery skills, but the multiple drawers – sometimes hidden – […]

The post ’18th-Century Furniture’ Details 5 Classic Projects (& 4 Secret Drawers) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In “Choosing, Refurbishing & Using Moulding Planes”, Bill walks you through the classifications of moulding planes, discusses what to look for when shopping and then takes you step-by-step through the process to bring the iron back to cutting shape (and how to make a new iron if it’s missing).

The post Bill Anderson Knows Moulding Planes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Woodworking author and instructor Tom Fidgen is the mastermind behind the Unplugged Woodshop web site, the online hand tool woodworking school An Unplugged Life, and author of two bestselling books: “Made by Hand” (currently available at ShopWoodworking.com) and “The Unplugged Woodshop” (Taunton). He teaches woodworking with hand tools internationally. This September Fidgen will be teaching at Woodworking In America. His sessions will cover the kerfing plane and resawing by hand and handsaw essentials (both using hand/panel saws […]

The post An Interview with Tom Fidgen appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In “Gravity by Design” (June 2015, Issue 218), Darrell Peart shares his thought on how the bottom of a piece is the most interesting and telling – how what’s at the ground level (or close to it) has a significant effect on the design as a whole. One of the furniture pieces Darrell employs to illustrate his theory is the Aurora Desk – a pedestal desk of his own design […]

The post Darrell Peart’s ‘Arched Aurora Nightstand’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Most repairs to furniture during the construction process are a drag because I am kicking myself for making an error in the first place. Not so when adding wooden keys to a slab tabletop. Big wood tends to split. And left unchecked, the split can continue to open during the seasonal expansion and contraction cycle. The traditional fix is a wooden key that looks like two dovetails kissing. Or a […]

The post Stop Splits with a Wooden Key appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.