Woodworking Posts

We all know the old saw about measuring twice and cutting once. I’ve even gone one better in my world: Measure three times. Nonetheless, I still occasionally find that I’ve made a door or a drawer the wrong size. (I once made an entire cabinet, complete with four drawers, that was an inch too wide for the opening where it was intended to go…oh, the pain.) Over the years, I’ve […]

The post How to Resize a Cabinet Door appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Eric Brown, a Dayton-area tool collector and woodworker, has been conducting further investigating and experimentation into curious corner joinery (read his “log cabin dovetail” piece by clicking on the link). Yesterday, he stopped by while I was minding the Lost Art Press shop to show me his latest: what he’s calling the “Arrowhead Joint.” The procedure is similar to the log cabin tails linked above, but he added a new angle – 45° to be exact. […]

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It seems that no other shop resource is treated with such obliviousness as sandpaper. Although sandpaper is responsible for the last steps of shaping much of our work, it doesn’t receive the same heed as hand tools, or even portable tools. And, for obvious reasons, it doesn’t have the same sex-appeal as a hand tool. It is also disposable and cheap. Still, I tell my students: although it may seem […]

The post How to Keep Kids From Wasting Sandpaper – Part 1 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

After a brief lapse in book giveaways due to a bit of travel, I’m back at it again. This week I’m giving away a copy of “The Art and Craft of Cabinet-making” by David Denning. It’s a high-quality binding of a classic woodworking text that belongs in every woodworker’s collection. You’ll find insight into wood selection, glue prep, tools and appliances, joinery, decorative details, hardware and much more (just check out the table […]

The post Book Giveaway: Denning on Cabinet-making appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

If you enjoy using hand planes in your woodworking, then you may be considering adding specialty planes (like a filister) to your shop. Frank Klausz is a fan of filister planes, and in this short video he shows some of the details on adjusting and using a metal-bodied filister to make a ship-lapped joint. Just one more example of his impressive knowledge of woodworking joinery, and why we love learning from Frank. If […]

The post Frank Klausz & the Joys of Filister Planes appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In my recent postings, I’ve been writing about silicone oil and fish eye. So a few days ago I was having a deep discussion with a friend about paste wax, and it reminded me of the time I was in a friend’s shop and noticed him spraying Pledge on the top of his table saw. He explained that it was to reduce the resistance to boards he was pushing through […]

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