Author name: Enthusiast

Building staked furniture sometimes feels a lot more like an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” than a typical day in the shop. At assembly-time, the legs have to be knocked home hard to firmly seat the the conical tenon in its mortise and make a bit of a mechanical interlock. I’ve been making sample joints all year and sawing them apart to see what is going on inside. The […]

The post Staked Sawbenches, Day 2 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’ve just finishing creating the first woodworking “eMag” in my career – a collection of six articles from Popular Woodworking Magazine – “Contemporary Furniture.” It was a challenge to choose the “right” articles to show a range of subjects and techniques, but I think you’ll find an interesting selection. These builds have the clean lines and details that exemplify this style, and include skill-building techniques. In “City Sideboard,” Mario Rodriguez shows you […]

The post Build it Clean and Contemporary appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This weekend I am experimenting on guinea pigs. Scratch that. I’m experimenting on American pigs. Wow. That’s doesn’t sound good, either. OK, I’m teaching a new class on a new topic that has been bottled up inside me for four years now. You’ve probably never heard the term “staked furniture,” but that’s because the term and the joinery technology behind the furniture has largely been shoved to the side or […]

The post Building Staked Sawbenches at Highland Woodworking appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

We’ve just released an updated edition (as both a paperback and a PDF download) of our best-selling “Popular Woodworking’s Arts & Crafts Furniture Projects,” with 17 new step-by-step project builds (42 in all). And I have a copy to give away, free. To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment below by Friday, Jan. 23. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, Jan. 26. Inside this 2nd edition of “Arts & […]

The post ‘Arts & Crafts Furniture Projects’ 2nd Edition appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

  It’s been pretty much a month now since I first laid hands on this saw, and it’s only because of an encounter with a saw very different to this one that I managed to get what I feel is the right perspective. I purchased a set of Gyokucho Japanese saws with some Christmas tool vouchers and I’ll discuss those soon enough – but as is often the case, they […]

The post Skelton Dovetail Saw – Part 2 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

For someone who built one of the most successful furniture companies of the early 20th century and was a tireless promoter of his company and furniture, surprisingly little is known about the life of Charles Limbert. His obituary in the July 11, 1923, edition of the Grand Rapids Herald noted his “retiring disposition” and cited his “pleasure in quiet pursuits.” One of those hobbies was the raising  of “fancy breeds” of […]

The post Fancy Chickens & Fine Furniture: The “Mysterious Mr. Limbert” at the National Arts & Crafts Conference appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.