Woodworking Posts

After a brief tenure in law school at Vanderbilt University, Alf Sharp decided the white collar world was not for him. His woodworking career began with some simple remodeling for a landlord in lieu of rent, which led to doing interior trim work and simple cabinetry, and teaching himself fine woodworking through books and experimentation. Now, Alf is recognized as one of America’s premier period furniture makers, and was honored […]

The post Popular Woodworking in America: An Interview with Alf Sharp appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

OK, it’s a small thing, but I still get irritated when I see or hear shellac described as bug excretion. It’s not (think of the related word “excrement.”) It’s a resinous SEcretion (big difference) from a bug that feeds off of plum trees, which are native to South Asia. The bug secretes the resin to shelter and protect its offspring. The resin is then harvested and shipped around the world. […]

The post Shellac is Not Bug Poop! appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

With so many excellent entries in the 2016 PWM Excellence Awards, selecting the Editors’ Choice winners and Grand-prize winner was incredibly difficult. All the editors and contributors have different aesthetic tastes, and the excellent craftsmanship displayed in the top vote getters didn’t help settle the discussions. In several cases the winner was chosen by a margin of a single vote. But choices had to be made, so here they are: […]

The post Congratulations to the 2016 PWM Excellence Awards Winners appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

What comes to mind when you think of a stereotypical male in their mid-twenties? Someone who has a beard, a few tattoos and loves to collect vinyl? Well yeah, that’s me, and I’m not afraid to call myself out. Something that may set me apart from others my age is my appreciation for well-constructed furniture. So when I found out Dale Barnard was creating a storage cabinet designed to hold […]

The post Build a Danish Modern Storage Cabinet appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When you find an old tool, you have some work to do to get it into working condition – cleaning, sharpening, tuning and so forth. Once you’ve spent some time with it, often you’ll find that the tool is just as good (or even better) than one you could have bought new. Mike Dunbar’s original edition of “Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools” was written in 1989. It remained in print for […]

The post A Classic Book About Classic Woodworking Tools appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’m working on a “built-in basics” article for an upcoming issue of the magazine. For perhaps obvious reasons, I’m not focusing that article on the specific components I designed for my study, because the odds of mine fitting perfectly into someone else’s space are slim indeed. I’ve spent the last month or so digging into all the literature I could find about designing, building and installing built-ins, and there is […]

The post Built-in Shelves appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.