Woodworking Posts

About six years ago, Megan Fitzpatrick, the editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, asked me to join the group of editors blogging on the magazine website. I don’t remember why I turned her down. Maybe I was just really busy. Anyway, the possibility came up again recently and I jumped at the chance. I have a lot to say. You may be familiar with me through my long-running column, “Flexner on […]

The post Bob Flexner, Now Blogging appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

My Japanese corner chisel is not the most handy tool in my tool box. In fact, I hardly use it. But since I have it, I feel obligated to keep it sharp. If you own one and look for instructions on how to sharpen it you will see that all of the demonstrations use flat abrasive stones or files such as diamond, oil, Arkansas, or a piece of steel wrapped in […]

The post Sharpening Awkward Blades without a Diamond Stone appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

For many years I’ve lined the jaws of all my vises with sueded leather to improve their grip. Whenever I mention that I do this, I get a barrage of questions: Where do you buy suede? (Really? Any craft store, fabric store, Tandy etc.) What glue do you use? (Any glue. Hide, yellow glue, epoxy, contact cement etc.) How do you apply the leather? (Like veneer. Clamp a caul on […]

The post Improve the Grip of all Your Vises: $10 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

While many people get warm and wet feelings about their smoothing planes, I have those emotions about my hand drill. Maybe it’s because I use a hand drill almost daily for nails and screws, especially after building a ton of campaign furniture with all the inset brasses. So this summer I gave away my hand drill to a friend who didn’t have one and thought: “I’ll just buy another on […]

The post Bad Luck with Hand Drills appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The cover story for the April 2016 issue (#224) is Caleb James’s article on making matched sets of Roubo-style moulding planes (the three sizes for which he reaches the most: Nos. 4, 6 and 8). To whet your appetite (and so I can show off the gorgeous opening image shot by Daniel Dubois, whom you really ought to follow on Instagram), below is a preview: a “sidebar” Caleb wrote about […]

The post Heat Treating O1 Steel appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

To turn wood safely, you need to know the correct way to introduce a cutting tool to a spinning workpiece. There are different ways to start a cut, depending on the type of tool you use. Here’s a look at how to start cuts with traditional woodturning tools and carbide tools. Positioning the Tool Rest The height of your tool rest should be just below the center of your workpiece. […]

The post How to Start a Woodturning Cut appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.