Woodworking Posts

When researching Roman workbenches, one of the things that leaped out at me was how low many of them were low, knee-high like a sawbench. After building a low bench based on drawing from Pompeii and Herculaneum, most visitors to my shop had one question: Were the Romans really short? The answer is: no. These low benches are used differently. You sit on them to plane faces of boards. You […]

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How I Started in Digital Woodworking I had a long career as a designer. Long enough that I started out using traditional design tools, techniques and methods. So, when digital tools for designers first became available in the early 80’s, I jumped in. Even though the first design and publishing software programs were pretty basic, they helped me get real work done and soon became indispensable. I also really liked using […]

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I’ve just gotten caught up on work (and made a dent in my Dutch tool chest build) after Popular Woodworking in America last weekend, and I wanted to recap my experience at the conference. With so many great speakers and a marketplace that begged to empty my wallet, it’s hard to pick my favorite aspects of PWIA. First off, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to the […]

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Screw-driven vises are not modern inventions. The earliest screw-driven vise that I know of is this Italian vise that is circa 1300. I am always looking for earlier vises because the screw mechanism has been around since Archimedes, though his screw was originally used for irrigation. This year I have been delving deep into a codex that was written in 1505 by a patrician named Martin Loffelholz. The 76-page proto-book […]

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Well, another Popular Woodworking in America has come and gone. It was a fine time indeed, meeting and greeting our readers and contributors, but, like all good things, the end (alas) was inevitable. As attendees returned to their homes and shops to recover, our staff headed back to the office to work on new books, videos and, in my case, the next issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. But the memories […]

The post Hand Tool Olympics: Post-Game Wrap-Up appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This may have happened to you. It’s surely happened to me. When you’re brushing a finish, the brush picks up some of the stain and lightens the wood. It’s even worse when the brush picks up so much stain that it leaves streaks. The first solution to try is to let the stain dry longer. Oil stains usually require drying overnight in a warm room, longer if the room isn’t […]

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