Woodworking Posts

I’ve had a knife in my pocket since I was 11 and couldn’t imagine working in the shop without one. My problem is that the beautiful French knife my wife gave me in 1998 doesn’t have a locking blade. After a couple close calls with the French knife, I decided to get a folding lockback for the shop. Of course, I wanted to buy a domestic knife, but I didn’t […]

The post An Excellent Locking Shop Knife from Farm & Field appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

No, this is not an April Fools’ joke posted a day early. It’s a poem from one of my favorite writers, John Donne, who died on this date in 1631. Why this poem (or any poem)? The central conceit is the compass – a powerful tool in woodworking. After the poem (yes, yes; I know many will skip it), I’ve posted links to just some of the compass techniques and […]

The post In Memory of John Donne, (?? 1572-March 31, 1631) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Registration is now open for Woodworking in America 2015. I hope to see you in Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 25-27, along with speakers Roy Underhill, Christopher Schwarz, Alf Sharp, Will Neptune, Phil Lowe, David Marks, Vic Tesolin, Marc Adams, Kevin Drake, Patrick Edwards, Tom Fidgen, James Hamilton, Mark Harrell, Donna Hill, Dave Jeske, Scott Meek, Jeff Miller, Deneb Puchalski, Mike Siemsen, Jarrod Stone Dahl, Don Williams, Nick Lieurance.Click here to […]

The post Woodworking in America ’15 Registration is Now Open appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The only downside to using cut nails is they can split the work, especially when used near the ends of boards. While a properly sized pilot hole will usually prevent splits, there are times when the gnarly grain of the wood wants to split anyway. Cut nails also will split your work if you use a nail size that is just too big for the boards at hand. And that […]

The post Prevent a Cut Nail Explosion Disaster appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

My favorite project from 2014 is one I haven’t been able to talk much about, until now. Jameel Abraham of Benchcrafted and I collaborated on building a tool chest for a two-article series in Popular Woodworking Magazine. My article on building the chest will be in the August 2015 issue; Jameel’s article on the lid will be in the October 2015 issue. The idea for this special chest spawned from […]

The post Traveling Tool Chest with a Marquetry Lid appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

After workbenches and finishing, the questions we get asked most often are about hand-cut dovetails. So, we’ve put together a kit that includes the Woodjoy Precision Dovetail Template (the brass and black oxide one you’ve perhaps seen me use in the magazine and on the blog), an inexpensive but excellent marking knife from Lee Valley, Rob Cosman’s step-by step guide to dovetails, Ian Kirby’s book “The Complete Dovetail,” a Roy […]

The post Dovetails: A Knife, a Jig & Expert Instruction appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.