Author name: Enthusiast

While waiting for a flight to Alaska today I decided to spend my morning knocking out prototypes of a folding camp stool using bamboo turnings. The first piece of custom furniture I ever owned was a bookcase that my grandfather made for me. The bookcase was huge – almost 7’ tall – because all I did as a kid was read, write, build stuff and blow things up with fireworks. […]

The post Fast Prototypes of Bamboo-leg Stools appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In a foolish move executed to save $150 or so on my kitchen rehab, I initially purchased hinges and pulls from a mass-market supplier. Upon receiving that package, I opened it, and sighed over the fake screw heads on the bin pulls and the altogether lightweight feel of the pieces. I tried to convince myself that, for a house I’m planning to sell, it was silly to spend the extra […]

The post Too Much Work for Quotidian Hardware appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When I think of all the things that improved my sharpening skills, two things loom large. No. 1 is practice, of course, but close behind that is a dedicated sharpening tray. About 14 years ago I built a shallow tray from scrap plywood, nails and glue. No fancy joinery, no water-resistant materials and no finish. The tray sat beside my bench and contained all my sharpening mess, keeping it off […]

The post A Place to Call ‘Hone’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Working on projects with stump feet is fun. One thing you have to remember is how to handle end-grain feet on a floor. If you just leave them come straight down to the floor, you run the risk of continual tear-out. The easiest way to eliminate the problem is to plane a little chamfer around the foot. This ensure the outermost fibers that are rubbing against the floor are being […]

The post Taming Tear-out Tuesday appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Show off your excellent work in 2014 Popular Woodworking Magazine Excellence Awards. Winners in each of five categories, a grand-prize winner, and a Readers’ Choice winner will be published in a feature article in the November 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. You can enter up to five pieces; the categories are: Casework, Cabinets & Bookcases; Seating; Tables; Boxes & Smalls (e.g. beautiful tools); Turnings, Carvings & Objet d’Art (by […]

The post Call for Entries: 2014 PWM Excellence Awards appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Don Williams – conservator, historian and woodworker extraordinaire – was in town a couple weeks ago to shoot a video on historic transparent furniture finishes, for which he brought a truckload of examples and props (the video will be available in mid-August). He was kind enough to leave some of his stuff behind for us to try out, including the “lemon shellac flour” pictured above. Now Don cares about shellac […]

The post ‘The Shellac Archive’ from Don Williams appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.