Author name: Enthusiast

Because my workbench doesn’t have an end vise, I’ve become creative when it comes to planing my stock with only a simple planing stop, a holdfast and dogs. Mine is a primitive arrangement compared to a beautiful European tail vise with its array of dog holes, but it works. And I rarely ever think: “If only I had a tail vise.” Of course, there are some tricks to using a […]

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As you pull up the leafy driveway to the mill Roy and Jane Underhill call home, off to the right is the cottage where I was lucky enough to stay on my recent visit (you can take a look at it here). To the left is a barn in which Roy has his home shop. Many students who have taken classes that move from log to project at The Woodwright’s […]

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In Friday’s “Furniture Details” post I tossed out a photo of a Newport dressing table (or lowboy if you prefer), but shot from below. The idea was to get you looking at not only how the piece was made but how things had been repaired/replaced over time. I made the post into a little contest to see who could pick out what was wrong on the piece. And, we had […]

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It isn’t unusual for a member of the Popular Woodworking Magazine staff to spend vacation time to attend a woodworking class. Usually I go to teach, but last week I found myself in Montana learning at the Chidwick School of Fine Woodworking in Stevensville, Montana. I was there on my own dime to meet Dean Mattson and to see the top five students from his woodworking program at North Salem […]

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In order to know, and understand, how things were made in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries you’ve got to spend a lot of time on the floor (no Bender jokes, please). Looking at pieces from the top down, or outside in, only gives you a small part of the picture. And that’s why you can only learn so much by looking at books and magazines. Sure, you can read […]

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On this way to work this morning, I heard Guy Clark’s “Step Inside this House” (it was Lyle Lovett’s version off his album of the same title). It reminded me that I’ve long been meaning to post my favorite article I’ve written while with Popular Woodworking: “Songs from the Workbench” – an interview/article about Clark that appeared in our June 2007 issue. It represents one of the few times I’ve […]

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