Woodworking Posts

We just compiled a new collection over at shopwoodworking.com! I am in the midst of setting up my home shop, so the pain of sorting out layout and storage is very real for me. I have leaned on The Practical Workshop for several ideas already. This collection is a great value and won’t be around forever. If you’ve considered picking up a couple of these titles, this may be a great […]

The post New Collection: Ship-Shape Shop appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Earlier this week our online content director David Lyle raised the question of which modeling software seemed to be most popular with woodworkers. There’s been growing interest in Fusion 360 – David attended a “roadshow” event for the software this week. It seems like SketchUp is still king for the moment, but there always new makers out there with new ideas and ways of designing things. Of course, there are some woodworkers who still swear […]

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

No matter how long I work in this craft, there are days when I feel incapable of doing anything correctly. Such as today. Readers love to be reminded that even people who do this every day suffer regular failures. If you like to wallow in other people’s misery, this post is for you. (Also, it shows you how I deal with woodworking despair.) For the last month I’ve been working […]

The post Born to Fail at Woodworking appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

My father, Robert Emmet Gaffney, was a copy editor for 30 years and a lifelong woodworker. While I was always excited to take up his reins as a woodworker, I now find myself taking up the red pen and pursuing his editorial path as well. My name is Brendan Bernhardt Gaffney. I’m Popular Woodworking Magazine‘s new managing editor, a woodworker, toolmaker and, depending on the day, musician, engineer and general autodidact. […]

The post From Redwoods to Red Ink appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The dovetail is the drawer joint of choice in many a classic drawer, but for a more mechanized world, the drawer joint of choice is often the half-blind tongue-in-groove. Sturdy, interlocking, mechanical without the need of nails, and quickly made on a table saw this joint often appears in commercial cabinetry (in a good way). This drawer joint can be used for inset drawers (as shown in the video excerpt below […]

The post Video: Sturdy Drawer Joint on a Table Saw appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

We’re entering mid-summer and you may be thinking of applying a clear finish to some project that will be exposed to sunlight outside. What finish should you use? Be careful. All finishes marketed for exterior surfaces aren’t the same, no matter the claims of manufacturers. The distinction in exterior clear finishes is whether they contain UV-resistant additives, called “UV inhibitors” or “UV absorbers.” And whether they contain enough of these […]

The post The Best Kind of Clear Finish to use Outdoors – The Difference Between Varnish and Spar Varnish appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.