Woodworking Posts

Many kids (not to mention woodworkers) will say “I hate math!”. But as Kalid Azad of www.betterexplained.com has pointed out what they are really saying is that they hate how math makes them feel. Nobody likes to feel frustrated and stupid. Presenting math concepts through manipulating a physical “calculator,” however, goes a long way to not only changing that perception but to instilling an intuitive understanding of the core principles […]

The post Learn Math with a Framing Square – “Framing Square Math” by Joe Youcha appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Here in the Midwest, we seem to have a lot more Buckeyes who are people (it’s the nickname for Ohioans) than actual buckeye trees (Aesculus glabra, sometimes called the horse chestnut). In fact, I’ve lived in the range of the Ohio Buckeye tree for most of my adult life and have never seen it for sale. It’s not a popular tree for many reasons. Its leaves and nuts are poisonous […]

The post My First Experience with Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One of the nice traditions at the school I teach in is our annual Fall Fair. The Fair is a one-day extravaganza in which the school transformed into a magical forest-like world. Laden with autumn and winter atmosphere, our building’s interior is decorated with fabrics, branches, logs and leaves to support the imaginary themes of fairy tales and mythology. To help our school with fundraising during the fair, parents volunteer […]

The post Woodworking Workshop for Parents and our Fall Fair 2017 – Part 1 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A spray pattern, with all the controls on the spray gun wide open, is supposed to be an even, elongated oval shape. If the pattern is heavier on one end than the other, the likely cause is that one or more of the holes in the air cap are plugged up. It’s also possible that the fluid nozzle has been damaged. To determine which, rotate the air cap one-half turn […]

The post Here’s How to Fix a Spray Pattern that is Heavier on One End appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

All the sharpening systems out there work, but I have a favorite: Shapton Pro Series stones in #1,000, #5,000 and #8,000 grits. Shapton Pros cut fast, stay pretty flat and don’t have to be soaked beforehand. As I sharpen three to five times a day, those are important qualities. Recently there has been turmoil with the supply of Shapton stones to the United States. In the end, the U.S. distributor […]

The post Important Shapton News (a Price Cut!) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’ve long been struck by the aptness of our English word “cope” – “I just can’t cope,” “I’m barely coping” – in light of its meaning in a woodworker’s lexicon. Sure, some of us may use the word when describing our emotional state, but more often we use it to denote a technique for joining two pieces of trim or molding where they meet at an inside corner. There’s nothing wrong […]

The post A Lesson in Coping – How to Join Trim appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.