Woodworking Posts

The No. 984 panel plane, currently in production, will be the last run of commercial handplanes in Karl Holtey’s legendary and innovative 26-year career. His first original design is shown above. I had the chance early on in my time at Popular Woodworking to handle several of his incredible tools, and take a few shavings. It was about a year after I joined the staff and maybe 1 week after […]

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Flush-cutting saws are great, except when you have heavy work to do, or the saws dive into the work below the teeth, or they bend because you got too aggressive. I usually use these specialty saws for light-duty work – trimming small dowels – or when I can’t otherwise do the work – trimming overhanging moulding that has been dovetailed at the corners is one common example in my work. […]

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Caleb began his woodworking career designing and creating mid-century furniture, with a focus on Danish modern chairs. His entry into traditional chair making began with training from Peter Galbert and further expanded as he collaborated with Curtis Buchanan. This traditional type of woodworking guided his research into traditional tooling and led to his making 18th-century wooden handplanes. He regularly blogs about plane making and encourages the craft. PW: You’re known […]

The post Woodworking in America: Interview with Caleb James appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Glazing is easy to do, and it can add a lot of decoration to furniture or woodwork. In the case of the corner chest pictured, glaze is used to highlight the detail of the moldings and carvings. The glaze emphasizes the three-dimensional effect. The process is simple. First, seal the wood’s surface with one or two coats of finish – any film-building finish. You can apply stain under these coats […]

The post Glazing to Highlight Detail appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Mary May has been a professional woodcarver for more than 25 years. She studied with a variety of European master carvers to learn the traditional techniques that have been used for centuries. Mary now works with architects, designers and furniture makers, helping to add ornate details to their work. She teaches at various woodworking schools throughout the U.S. and has been a guest on “The Woodwright’s Shop” several times. Four years […]

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When I came onboard as managing editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine a few months back, my knowledge of the title was that of a reader – but as a staff member of a publication with about 30 years of history, I had some catching up to do. So I dug into the stacks (or, rather, the company hard drive filled with PDFs) and got to work reading. And reading, and […]

The post On Sale Now: 19 Years of Magazine Issues appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.