Woodworking Posts

In the December 2017 Popular Woodworking article called “Digital Artistry… How five masterful makers integrate CNC and CAD technology into their woodworking”, five professional woodworkers showed how they’ve added digital woodworking skills and tools to their traditional, hybrid and hand tool woodworking skill sets. The makers are Darrell Peart, Curtis Erpelding, Bob Spangler, David Myka and myself. All of us have traditional woodworking backgrounds but have embraced new technologies as […]

The post The Power of User Groups – How to Learn CNC appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The sled we use the most in our shop is the one shown here. I built it five years ago, and it is as accurate as the day I made it. I built it in response to my frustrations with fancy sliding tables, Jim-crack miter gauges and other silly devices used to crosscut wood at 90°. This sled and my panel-cutting sled handle all of my crosscutting needs. Here’s how […]

The post Crosscutting Sled – Just 5 Pieces of Wood appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I learned this in engineering school and soon found out it worked for my router. It is called the “right-hand thumb rule.” When trying to remember which way your router bit is spinning so you can feed the wood in the correct direction, you can use the right-hand thumb rule. Pretend your right hand is a router and your thumb is the router bit. If you are holding the router […]

The post Which Way Does the Router Spin? – Tricks of the Trade appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I recently posted a video to our YouTube channel that discussed proper tightening of a saw blade nut (hand tightened is usually enough) and was surprised by the number of comments not on the focus of the video, but on the splitter shown on our Powermatic 66. I apologize for getting a bit technical (tool nerd!), but this is worth a bit of discussion. First, our Powermatic 66 table saw has […]

The post Aftermarket Splitters & Riving Knives for Powermatic 66 Table Saw appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Editor’s note: Bryant documented his move process on his Instagram account, of which I have been a follower for a long time. I asked him to write a blog post to share his thoughts in a longer format. Enjoy! – David Lyell You’ve been putting it off for months, you knew it was coming. Perhaps the lease is up on your shop, or you bought a new house with a […]

The post Surviving A Shop Move 101 – Camille Woodworking appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A professional woodworker got in touch with this question. He had finished a sixty-foot long countertop for a brewery tasting room with catalyzed (conversion) varnish. After the finish dried for three weeks, the client decided he would like the finish to be glossier and have the same amber tone as the other countertop, which had been finished with polyurethane. To complicate this woodworker’s situation even more, he couldn’t spray this […]

The post Compatibility of Applying One Type of Finish Over Another appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.