Woodworking Posts

When people ask me what foods I hate, I usually say, “I’ll eat anything, as long as it’s prepared well.” I didn’t like Brussels sprouts until I had them roasted. I didn’t like oysters until I tried them right from the creek. And I didn’t like green beans until I had fresh ones (ugh, 1970s canned green beans;I’d rather eat bauxite). The same thing goes for furniture finishes. Most people […]

The post Grain-painting Done Well – Quite Well appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

It goes without saying that there is a renewed interest in hand tool woodworking, and much has been written on the topic, and that’s great because there really is a lot to know about these tools that are “new” to many woodworkers. That said, my experience with hand tools has taught me one thing – Keep it Sharp! Whether a saw, knife or blade, sharp tools cut more accurately, safely […]

The post Sharpening Shortcuts appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Here’s a common and frustrating finishing problem: You apply finish to your piece, and one of the parts – say a rail or a stile – ends up a slightly different color or shade. The off-color piece makes the project look like a jumble of parts instead of a cohesive whole. There are several ways to fix this problem. And while a full explanation of color-matching would require a book […]

The post Friends of the Finisher: Glazes, Toners & Wax appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I just finished the binder read-through for the December 2014 issue, and in it, Mary Mary has an article titled “Woodcarving Basics.” Therein, she shares the tools and techniques you need for a successful start in carving, and one of her suggestions was so interesting that it caused me to pick up an iron for the first time in…I don’t know how long. (We share office space with our parent […]

The post Pattern-transfer Tip from Mary May appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

We’ve just posted two positions – one to conceive of, acquire and edit woodworking books; the other to conceive of, storyboard, direct, film and edit woodworking videos – for the Popular Woodworking community, reporting to the content director (that’s me). If you have a passion for and solid knowledge of woodworking (along with the skills particular to each job) and live in or are willing to relocate to the Greater […]

The post Your Passion for Woodworking Could Pay appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When Egyptian King Tutankhamun was buried in haste, the linen cloth he was wrapped in was soaked with linseed oil. And, perhaps because Tut was buried in haste, the oil was not allowed to cure. And so began one of the most common safety messages in relation to finishing: Spread out your oily rags to dry cure to avoid spontaneous combustion. Yup. The oily rags that wrapped Tut’s body spontaneously […]

The post Linseed Oil, an Ancient Friend (and Foe) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.