Woodworking Posts

Woodworking is a craft steeped in knowledge handed down through generations. The techniques have been tested and rethought and retested time and time again. While experimentation is a wonderful thing for the craft, there is simultaneously a good deal of importance in attention to detail and being exact. Learning the old ways and time-tested woodworking techniques is important. Once you have a good foundation you can be creative with your craft […]

The post Looking to the Past: Time-Tested Woodworking Techniques appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In my last post, I showed how I made a dedicated slip form (a slipstone made of wood) for one of my gouges. This week, I’ll explain how to make a complementary sandpaper sharpening stone that is surprisingly effective and inexpensive to build. First, let me explain why I began using this sandpaper technique in the first place. In the middle of a carving class, for example, a student will […]

The post Sandpaper Sharpening & Honing, Part 1 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Upholsterer Mike Mascelli was kind enough to send along some photos of what happened in his class to the terrible chair frame I wrote about this week. It’s a bit like the story of George Washington’s axe in a museum. After George died, the next owner wore out the head and replaced it. The owner after that broke the handle and replaced that. But it’s still Washington’s axe. Right? So […]

The post A Happy Ending for a Terrible Chair appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Most modern, factory-made furniture is poorly constructed – most woodworkers agree on that point. But would you ever call it dangerous? This fall while teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, I got a moment to peek in at the upholstery class being run by Mike Mascelli, a New York-based professional who does some really incredible work. One of his students had brought in the wooden frame underlying a […]

The post Typical (& Frightening) Chair Construction appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.