Author name: Enthusiast

Woodworking author and instructor Jeff Miller is a furniture designer, craftsman, teacher and author. His books include “The Foundations of Better Woodworking” and “Chairmaking and Design” among others. (Also, don’t miss Jeff’s new Design & Techniques for Building Curvy Furniture DVD). His furniture has been shown in galleries and shows nationwide and is included in the Decorative Arts Collection of the Chicago History Museum. This September Jeff will be teaching at Woodworking In America. His sessions will cover bent lamination […]

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Just a reminder that the submission deadline for the 2015 PWM Excellence Awards is June 14 (voting will open for the Readers’ Choice winner from June 17-24). In short: There is no entry fee – the only thing you have to lose is a few minutes work by filling out a form. You can enter up to five projects across the five categories (Casework, Cabinets & Bookcases; Seating; Tables; Boxes […]

The post Enter Your Best – You Could Win $1,000 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Scene: Mid-project in a chest-build class. Stage focus, a single bench with a busy student. Commotion all around at other benches just outside the lighted center stage. (Instructor enters from shadow stage right, voice heard before being seen) Instructor: Be sure to focus on your line, sawing to the waste side, keeping your dominate eye, wrist, forearm, and shoulder in line with the saw. Use the whole saw blade, after all… […]

The post Don’t Play the Cards, Play the Person… appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

OK…I’ve been tasked with letting everyone know that through Sunday, we’re running a 40-precent off, “Friends and Family Sale” at ShopWoodworking.com (and all other FW Community online stores: WritersDigestShop.com; NorthLightShop.com (art in all mediums), MyDesignShop.com (graphic design); and many more – you can find the full list on our corporate site at fwcommunity.com). The savings code is FFSUMMER40 for all the stores (enter that code in the “Coupon” box at […]

The post Crazy Low Prices – Good for You (But I think It’s Insane) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Draw a straight line on a piece of paper. If it’s easier, put two dots on the paper and connect them. Not too bad, right? Now draw a circle. Freehand, no compass or tracing the bottom of a can. Does it look like a circle? Not as easy as a line. I remember trying to lay out curves for the side of a hanging shelf I built a long time […]

The post Curve Challenged? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Skewing the body of the plane lowers its effective cutting angle, which can work in your favor or against you. Skewing also changes the relationship of the cutting edge to the wood fibers, which can change the surface finish of the wood. While the above two statements might seem obvious, I’ve watched a lot of students struggle with the topic of skewing. Part of the problem is that any discussion […]

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