Woodworking Posts

In my last few posts, I showed how two different vise chops designs were created for the BARN workbenches. One technique was based on an easy to use 3D CAD tool: extrusion. Armed with a squiggly line, that gave me a 3D ripple in a hurry. The second chop was created using rule-based clone copies of simple geometric shapes to create an array. That gave me a big set of […]

The post CAD to CAM to CNC: Part Six — 10 Different Vise Chops appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

What the heck? Why would I want a forge, I’m a woodworker! Ah, but I have had the pleasure of watching a forge in action (very cool, lots of fire and sparks!) for a number of video shoots creating tools and hardware – and it was fascinating! But I kept coming back to the issue that I don’t have a forge and it seemed like a rather large ask to […]

The post Video: Build a Backyard Propane Forge for Less than $100 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I have a meager collection of handplanes made up of mostly dog-meat users. I like using planes that have history because it’s fun to think about what each might have made during the last 100 years. None of my planes are particularly nice, but I do want to keep them from getting destroyed. For a long time, my planes cluttered my workspace, got knocked around on my bench and were […]

The post Tricks of the Trade: Gas-powered Plane-till Lid appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Across the world, students are heading back to school – and some of them are on their way to woodworking schools, like The Krenov School (my alma mater), North Bennet Street School, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and many more. It was only a few years ago that I was gearing up for the same journey – and I have a little list of learning moments (i.e. screwups/mistakes/regrets) that I want […]

The post Back to School appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The doe’s foot – a block of wood with a “V” cut into it – is one of the most versatile and cheap appliances for your workbench. I have an article about this little gizmo coming up in the next issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (look for it in the November 2017 issue, or perhaps subscribe). I work with a lot of odd-shaped parts, especially when I build chairs. These […]

The post All Hail the Versatile Doe’s Foot appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I got a call from a piano refinisher who had damaged the new finish he had applied by getting it too hot with an electric polisher. It turned out that he had polished finishes for years without this problem, but this was the first time he used nitrocellulose lacquer. He had used lacquer because his client requested it. What to do now? No finish is perfect. All have upsides and […]

The post Avoid Damaging Finish with an Electric Polisher and Lambs Wool Pad appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.