Woodworking Posts

The hand tool versus power tool discussion is something that comes up frequently at work (at least where I work these days). Prior to 2007, however, I didn’t even know it existed. In August of that year I decided to open a woodworking school and began writing for Popular Woodworking Magazine. Prior to that I was building furniture every day and had no idea there were wars raging in the […]

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What discussion of shop-made boxes would be complete without something dovetailed? A common project for many woodworkers is a dovetailed box. It’s a great warmup for making drawers and larger scale projects. When I was learning to cut a traditional dovetail by hand, one of the first ‘real’ projects after practice joints and the like was making a dovetailed candle box with a sliding top. A great box to have […]

The post A great box to have dinner with… appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When I teach woodworkers about SketchUp we always reach a point where I say, “the level of detail to include in your model is up to you”. Then I explain the level that I usually work to and conclude with “but if you know what you’re doing it doesn’t take that long.” Dovetails are a good example of this. What you see is a typical drawer side. If you want […]

The post Dovetails in SketchUp – Easier Than You Think appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The full 2014 WoodworkingInAmerica.com site should be live any day now, and on it, you’ll find the schedule, sessions descriptions, speaker bios and much more – and we’ll be adding to the list of Marketplace vendors as they come in. (Visit the site now to sign up for the newsletter to stay in the loop on early bird deadlines, registration information, etc.) Registration will open in just a couple weeks…to […]

The post 2014 WIA Speakers: The Complete List appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When you have to work inside a carcase, there are a wide variety of specialty tools on the market – such as right-angle drills and drawer-lock chisels – to make your life easier. I try to keep a small tool kit. Not because I’m a tightwad. I’m not. But I travel a lot and I prefer to have fewer tools to take care of and keep track of. Buying fewer […]

The post Work in Tight Spaces without Special Tools appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

If you are considering building a six-board chest like the ones shown in the November 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, we have a great link for you. Mark Firley of the blog The Furniture Record, has assembled a set of more than 140 photos of chests he has collected on his journeys through auction houses, antique shops and museums across the country. The chests cover a wide range of […]

The post I Never Tire of Staring at Chests appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.