Author name: Enthusiast

Q: Is there ever a time in the hand drafting process when you use paper with lines on it, such as graph paper? A: If I am out in the field and do not have a portable drafting setup, then graph paper is desirable paper to have on hand. The most common graph paper is 1/4″ squares, but better office/drafting supply companies will offer it in various sizes. I like […]

The post Hand Drafting Skill-builder FAQ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

While teaching in England this summer I had a sudden and miraculous encounter with Pégas coping saw blades – and I am a convert. I rarely say this sort of thing, but here we go: Buy them. Buy as many as you can afford. Encourage the company to make more blades like this. If you want to skip the backstory and just order the darn blades, go to Tools for […]

The post Pégas Coping Saw Blades – the Best appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

  Last weekend I built a dovetailed campaign-style officer’s trunk for the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association and several of the members were shocked when I drove the carcase dovetails together. What was shocking to them was how tight my fit was between the tails and pins; it required a few hard whacks with a dead-blow mallet to seat the tails into the pins. The members asked me a lot […]

The post Dovetail Joints: How Tight is Too Tight? appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Tomorrow morning, I depart Winston-Salem for a long and lonely drive to Cincinnati in the slow, loud and uncomfortable 24′-long truck (I can’t believe I’m allowed to operate this thing without a CDL license!). So I have a little time to kill. After four days of fun, frivolity and being on my feet nonstop, I just don’t think I have it in me to walk any farther than the room […]

The post Pictures from Woodworking in America 2014 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

As a crowd gathered ’round the Lee Valley Tools booth at high noon on Saturday, Sept. 13 at Woodworking in America 2014, Robin Lee, president, unlocked the chains and opened the cases to reveal a project the company has been working on for more than two years: five new Veritas “customizable” bevel-down planes (Nos. 4, 41⁄2, 5, 51⁄2 and 7 in the Stanley numbering system). I got a preview of […]

The post Customizable Bevel-down Planes from Veritas appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

With campaign-style hardware, there are many choices out there for different budgets and aesthetics. You can go for full-on rustic, sand-cast hardware – this looks great but can be tricky to install because every piece of hardware is slightly different. Or you can opt for modern die-cast hardware – easy to install but a little too-consistent looking to look historically accurate. I have installed both kinds of hardware, and I […]

The post Pressed Brass Campaign Hardware from Lee Valley appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.