Woodworking Posts

My friend and neighbor, Takuji Matsuda, enjoys the advantages of a western workbench. You read part one of my workshop tour here. But when it comes to planes, Takuji prefers traditional Japanese planes which are pulled towards the body, whereas the Western plane is pushed away from the user. To help Takuji plane surfaces and true up crosscut end grain while working on a simple table that is devoid of a vise, Mr. […]

The post A Visit to Takuji Matsuda’s Kiribako Shop: Part 2 – Planing and Shooting Platform for Japanese Planes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When I joined the woodworking team a few of years ago I found myself thumbing through a couple of books in the Furniture Fundamentals series. Exploring those two books,“Chairs & Benches” and “Tables,” – as well as a book that I edited as an addition to the series, “Casework” – made for a great jumping off point for my work with Popular Woodworking. The series offers a lot of great information on how to build some of […]

The post Book Giveaway: Furniture Fundamentals appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

My last several posts have been about how the BARN workbench vise chops were designed. In this post, I’ll show you how the CNC was programmed for machining with CAM software. I use RhinoCAM software from MecSoft, but most CAM software programs that can handle basic 3D milling will have similar machining operations. This post is not a primary on CAM or a full explanation of all the settings that […]

The post CAD to CAM to CNC: Part Seven — Programming a CNC for 3D Carving appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Push sticks? Yes, that is the topic of today’s blog, and it’s also the answer – Yes! Every woodworker has had a close call (or worse) or knows someone who has. Table saws are dangerous and even the experienced get hurt. But before this devolves into a diatribe about table saw injuries, let’s just agree that it’s better and safer to use push sticks when using a table saw. Two […]

The post Video: How to Choose a Push Stick – Table Saw Safety appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I made this adapter to hook up dust collection to the odd-size fitting (2″) on my oscillating sander. Start with a hardwood block that is (in my case) is 3″ x 4″ x 11⁄4” thick. I required a 2″ hole, so I used a 2″ hole saw to drill in the middle of the block. The next thing is to drill the holes for the split-block-clamping and block-attachment holes. I drilled […]

The post Tricks of the Trade: Dust Collection for Ports of All Sizes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Construction pine, the stuff you get at the big box stores, has a bad rap with woodworkers. It’s poorly dried, hard to work and moves way too much. It grows too fast so the grain is too wide and varied. It’s for carpentry projects… I also know this. It’s cheap, requires good tool techniques, needs proper design consideration and demands sharp edges. Which makes it perfect for new woodworkers, experiments […]

The post How to Prepare Construction Lumber for Furniture appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.