Woodworking Posts

Woodworking as a craft is one of mankind’s oldest uses of technology, and each generation has passed along knowledge about how to, when to and why to. Technology has changed within the craft itself and the way in which information moves from older to younger. A lot of things that used to be made out of wood are now constructed of different materials, but woodworking is still an important part […]

The post Preparing Woodworkers for a Brighter Future appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I’ve worked out of a traditional floor chest since 1997 when I built my first cover project for Popular Woodworking Magazine. It’s not that I’ve always been monogamous, however. I’ve tried all manner of wall chests, tool racks, rolling cabinets, soft-sided bags and suitcases as ways to contain, protect and limit my tools. But I have always come back to my floor chest. Here’s why. Nothing else gives me the […]

The post Tool Chests, 1997-2014 appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A few weeks back I posted about router bit storage. At the end of the post I suggested that readers send me photos of their storage solutions and I would write a follow-up post showing those photos. Many readers shared photos of how they store router bits. I must say that the solutions were innovative and creative. But I was a bit disappointed that no one shared any of the […]

The post Woodworker’s Solutions to Router Bit Storage appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Len Hovarter of Hovarter Custom Vise has developed a simple and inexpensive quick-release leg vise mechanism that looks quite ingenious. Like all of Hoverter’s vises, they work on the age-old principle of unicorn magic. They slide in and out smoothly without a threaded rod. Then they engage the work with a short turn of the handle. Kelly Mehler has a twin-screw vise with a Hovarter on it and I can […]

The post New Vise Mechanism from Hovarter appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

At the Lie-Nielsen open house last weekend, luthier Patrick Sebrey, of Union, Maine, brought along a clever maple guitar stand on which he put the finishing touches during the two days of technique and tool demos. At first glance, I thought the piece was a musical instrument — perhaps a variation on a harp — thanks to the tuning keys and strings. But Patrick showed me how the thin, curve […]

The post A Guitar Stand of Clever Design appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Take one leg vise. Rotate it 90°. Now you have a Basque face vise. Woodworker Matt Talley is working in France right now. And during his free time he is hunting down workbenches in the Southern France/Basque region. He’s posted photos of some of his interesting finds at his web site here. I’ve been poring over his photos and found lots of interesting details (the bolted-on dog strip, for one) […]

The post Basque Workbenches – With Unusual Face Vises appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.