Author name: Enthusiast

Len Hovarter of Hovarter Custom Vise has developed a simple and inexpensive quick-release leg vise mechanism that looks quite ingenious. Like all of Hoverter’s vises, they work on the age-old principle of unicorn magic. They slide in and out smoothly without a threaded rod. Then they engage the work with a short turn of the handle. Kelly Mehler has a twin-screw vise with a Hovarter on it and I can […]

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At the Lie-Nielsen open house last weekend, luthier Patrick Sebrey, of Union, Maine, brought along a clever maple guitar stand on which he put the finishing touches during the two days of technique and tool demos. At first glance, I thought the piece was a musical instrument — perhaps a variation on a harp — thanks to the tuning keys and strings. But Patrick showed me how the thin, curve […]

The post A Guitar Stand of Clever Design appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Take one leg vise. Rotate it 90°. Now you have a Basque face vise. Woodworker Matt Talley is working in France right now. And during his free time he is hunting down workbenches in the Southern France/Basque region. He’s posted photos of some of his interesting finds at his web site here. I’ve been poring over his photos and found lots of interesting details (the bolted-on dog strip, for one) […]

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Just a little something to drool over — the holly knob and tote are by Bill Rittner; the engraving is by Catharine Kennedy. – Megan Fitzpatrick p.s. I’m out of the office this week…and can’t seem to turn the pic on my phone. Sorry.

The post Not Your Prosaic Handplane appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Last weekend I attended the Lie-Nielsen Open House at the company’s factory in Warren, Maine, and got to hang out with a lot of contributors to Popular Woodworking Magazine and work together on an unusual Dutch Tool Chest. What’s a Dutch Tool Chest? Check out the October 2013 issue to find out. Every year, Lie-Nielsen opens its doors to the public a la Willy Wonka to show off the factory, […]

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I often joke that I will someday make my fortune by writing a birdhouse book – typically the best-selling woodworking books (by far). And many readers have asked (jokingly) why I didn’t include a campaign birdhouse in my latest book on campaign-style furniture. So it was amusing when woodworker Ric Archibald showed up with a campaign birdhouse he had made that collapses like a typical campaign bookcase. The bookcase uses […]

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