Author name: Enthusiast

I’m just back from the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers show (www.awfsfair.org) in Las Vegas where there were many woodworking products worth talking about – too many in fact, to include all of them here. I’ve narrowed the list below to include just a few that elicited a “Cool!” from me, and I hope you’ll agree. Veritas Miter Plane & Shop Knife Two new products from Lee Valley/Veritas (www.leevalley.com) […]

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A couple years ago I revealed my secret shame: I use pliers to tighten the round collets on the fences and depth stops of my Veritas planes. Read that post here. I was admonished by the “lovers of round brass things” but then eventually was released on my own recognizance. Recently, a professional woodworker in Wales devised a simple leather and wood strap wrench that tightens these brassy bits without […]

The post The Nutsaver: This Stuff Writes Itself appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

  I’ve wanted to make a new mallet for a while now and at last found a bit of time to take the project forward. I knew I’d want to make a joiner’s mallet. This style is the classic type that has been typically found in a carpenter or joiner’s toolbox for many a long year. I like this setup because I’m used to the feel and did not want to […]

The post Making a Joiner’s Mallet appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A few weeks ago, I went down to our basement and was greeted by a large sloppy pile of back issues of Martha Stewart Living. A plastic shelf pin had sheared off, pulling the rest of the flimsy hardware out of the cheap particleboard bookcase, avalanching issues full of advice on keeping canaries and recipes for grilled striped bass across the floor. It was not a Good Thing. I love the look […]

The post Build a Bounty of Bookcases appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

As a rule, I avoid touristy places and huge throngs. But when Roy and Jane Underhill invited me to tag along to Stratford-on-Avon to see William Shakespeare’s birthplace, I couldn’t say no. After all, Roy could turn a root canal into a party. As expected, the town was packed with tourists and tacky trinkets. But the Shakespeare family home and gardens were very well done. And that would be the […]

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Editor’s note: Looking for a great gift? A bottle of wine is nice for almost any occasion, and this wooden wine box designed by woodworker and author A.J. Hamler (author of numerous books including his latest “Build It with Dad”) adds a personal touch as well as a handy box that your lucky gift recipient can use to store almost anything.  *Project excerpted from Hamler’s “Box Builder’s Handbook,” available now in paperback […]

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