Author name: Enthusiast

I prefer to use cut nails in reproduction work because they hold better and look right to my eye. But when it comes to cut headless brads, which are used to hold moulding in place while the glue dries, I don’t think these nails are the right choice for me. While cut nails are always more expensive than the equivalent wire nail, cut headless brads are crazy expensive. A 1 […]

The post An Economic Truth About Cut Nails appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’m working on a book project at the moment in which we’re including an article that refers to another article…and I’m out of pages. So instead of editing around the problem (no time for such shenanigans), I’ve decided to post said “another article” online, and provide a link in the text. I figure I might as well share “another article” with everyone. So below you’ll find “A Better Blanket Chest […]

The post ‘A Better Blanket Chest Design’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Whenever I talk about glue to clubs and classes, I hand around a bottle of liquid hide glue and ask them to tell me what its disadvantages are. “It’s weak.” Actually no, it produces a bond stronger than the wood itself. “It stinks.” Hide glue smells only as bad as a wet rawhide chew toy. It’s not bad at all. “It is sensitive to heat and moisture.” Ah, but that […]

The post Reverse Hide Glue’s Bond appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Hollow-chisel mortisers are one of my favorite tools. When mortising machines were first invented, a drill bit and a chisel were mounted side by side. Ralph and Robert Greenlee changed all that, and production woodworking forever with the invention of the hollow chisel. It’s quite an accomplishment to drill a square hole, and while the device is simple, the relationship between the bit and the chisel is critical. If there […]

The post Hollow-chisel Mortiser in Action appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In the June 2013 issue (#204) of Popular Woodworking Magazine I wrote about Wharton Esherick (read the article here) and got a bunch of e-mails regarding some of the pieces pictured in the article. One piece in particular seemed to garner more attention than the others, however. Wharton’s three-legged stools evidently were not only popular with his patrons, but with magazine’s readers as well. The funny thing about getting requests […]

The post Esherick Revisited appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’m at work on a Sunday … procrastinating on a personal project in the shop. So, I’m spending a little time at my desk answering e-mail and trying to work up the energy to go back to my massive pile of plywood. One question in my inbox today was, “What tools do I need to get started?” (It’s a question we get a lot.) I’m going to let Frank Klausz […]

The post Frank Klausz’s ‘Your First Toolkit’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.