Woodworking Posts

Getting started on a project is to me the most exciting time. I get to play with the design, dig through piles of lumber looking for just the right stock and contemplate all the little choices that need to made along the way. For my current project (which will appear in the April issue of … Read more »

The post Figured Lumber & the Gentle Art of Furniture Making appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Jerome Bias, the joiner at Old Salem (in Winston-Salem, N.C.), sent us a press release about a cool two-day finishing/color theory workshop he’s organized for February 8th and 9th, 2014, at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). They still need a few participants for the class to happen, so if you’re in the … Read more »

The post Workshop: ‘Even the Blotchy Stuff: Staining & Finising Wood Without Fear’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

This weekend, I read that the British Library has uploaded to Flickr Commons images from books and periodicals from the 17th-19th centuries, as part of the “Unseen Illustrations” project. They are available for use and repurpose in any way. I’ve had time only to look at a few pages worth of images; there are 10,200 … Read more »

The post Pictures/Words/Thousands appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When I finish my pieces, I use restraint when adding stains or dyes. Most woods look best (to my eye) with some shellac, lacquer and maybe a little colored wax in the pores. But when I do color wood, I’m a fan of the W.D. Lockwood dyes, which are usually found packaged as J.E. Moser … Read more »

The post Dyed by My Own Hand appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One of the unseen forces in the modern renaissance of hand tool manufacturing is Fred West, a woodworker from West Chester, Pa. Well, to be more precise, you might not know who Fred is, but anyone who makes or sells hand tools in North America knows him on sight. Fred is clearly fascinated by tools … Read more »

The post A Tribute to the Patron of the Hand Tool World appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Just in time for a last-minute Christmas gift (probably for yourself, if you’re reading this blog), we have all seven issues of Popular Woodworking Magazine from 2013 on CD. (Place your order by Friday, Dec. 13, if you need it by the 25th) You can read the back-cover copy on the store site – and … Read more »

The post 2013 PWM Compilation CD Now Available (& a Top-10 List) appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.