Woodworking Posts

In some high technology circles there is an expression they use when engineers move too quickly to launch a project. They have “go fever” and are willing to overlook horrible mistakes in order to launch a product. When teaching woodworking – especially casework – I find that most students need to take down their protective netting, … Read more »

The post I Want to Give You ‘Go Fever’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

On Hannah’s Inlaid Chest from our June 2013 magazine (issue #204), I scratched most of the string inlay by hand using tools from both Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and Lee Valley/Veritas. Of the string inlay tools used on the chest, the most import is the radius cutter. For that job, I selected the tool from Lie-Nielsen (item … Read more »

The post String Inlay Tools – Radius Cutters appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I met Evan Court last month at CraftBoston, where he was representing the North Bennet Street School as one of the students in their furniture-making program. Here’s a brief and informal introduction for you – Evan’s latest work, a great sideboard that was on display at the show: But what I really want to tell … Read more »

The post Why Build a Traditional Tool Chest? Wait’ll You See the Sideboard appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’m in Fort Collins, Colo., for an in-house conference where editors and community leaders in all areas of our parent company, F+W Media, are getting together to share ideas, talk about the business etc. And last night, we had a trade show so that each of us could demonstrate to our fellow employees what we … Read more »

The post Road-tested: The ‘Milkman’s Workbench’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I have often found it beneficial to sketch furniture while examining it.  Unlike a photograph, a pencil insists a form be understood to be reproduced. But my sketches don’t always look like my subjects.  My failing can be attributed to both my lack of skill and lack of understanding of the subject. I’m not convinced … Read more »

The post Art History v. Experimental Archeology appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

While I like and appreciate strict reproductions, I’ve always preferred to design my own stuff. How do I design a piece? In the only way I know how. It’s not easy. There are no formulas or rules or ratios. It is by a process I call “saturation and feedback.” Step 1: Absorb everything you can … Read more »

The post The Dumb Way to Teach Design appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.