Author name: Enthusiast

Discussions about the proper height for a workbench always crack me up because they are usually myopic in the extreme. When you look at workbenches across long periods of time and across cultures, there is a lot more diversity. Roman workbenches, for example, were about knee high. And lest you think that bench went out of style with togas and public baths, think again. These sorts of benches have never […]

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While this isn’t the dumbest shop trick ever (that honor belongs to: “A coffee mug is a good place to store pencils”) it’s close. About six months ago, I became crazy annoyed about my workbench moving while under heavy planing. The bench weighs about 350 pounds, so it wasn’t a matter of mass. For some reason I picked up the wooden wedge jammed under one of the legs that keeps […]

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On the William & Mary chest in the April 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (which mails to subscribers next week), the case sides are frame-and-panel construction (read about how I handle sticking here) with drawbored mortise-and-tenon joints. As my article made its way around the office for editorial review, Megan Fitzpatrick noticed that I used two offset pins in each tenon and asked, “Why, the offset?” Then it occurred […]

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These are my top six ways to elevate your woodworking game. I present them in reverse order, so if you’re looking for the top way, jump to the last entry. .6 Don’t point out your mistakes. Most woodworkers always begin to show a piece by stating what’s wrong with his or her work. That immediately cues viewers that there are problems – that undermines your work. Professional woodworkers never point […]

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Trying to make contact with all the different hand and power tool manufacturers out there takes up a lot of my time here at the magazine. I’m always searching for new products. They may be new to the market or they might just be new to the magazine but I’m searching for them nonetheless. Every once in a while I stumble across more than just a great company; I get […]

The post SuperMax – Little Guys Building it Bigger and Better appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The alway-eagle-eyed Jeff Burks pointed out that I had already found an earlier reference to using a bow saw to saw out dovetail waste to the one I posted this morning. Back in 2010, I mentioned that Charles Holtzapffel explains the technique in “Turning and Mechanical Manipulation…” (1856). Holtzapffel writes: The wood between the dovetail pins is generally cut out with the bow or turning saw, leaving the space as […]

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