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Plow planes are some of the easiest joinery planes to use , once you know a few tricks to getting good results. I struggled with the tools until Don McConnell (now a planemaker at Clark & [...]

Nothing in handplaning is more frustrating than tear-out

Hone your hand skills with a project that has low risks but high rewards.

It starts out the size of a smartphone and opens to make your reading (or cooking) easier. How-to books, cookbooks and sheet music are inconvenient to use while you’re in the workshop, kitchen or [...]

Our staff offers simple, strong and fast ways to make this important furniture component. In woodworking magazines, books and plans there’s almost always an omission that’s big enough to drive a [...]

Learn the tricks to making sturdy furniture that folds flat. For those with mechanical minds, building furniture that folds into small spaces is great fun. Not only does the piece have to look [...]

Forget plastic or metal pans – a wooden one looks nicer and works better. Some time during the last 25 years of prowling around workshops, museums and antique stores, I spotted a wooden dustpan. [...]

We compared 14 methods to find the fastest way to prepare this useful tool.

The single most important hand-tool appliance is 3 sticks of wood. Owning a backsaw without owning a bench hook is like riding a bicycle without handlebars. This simple hand-tool appliance (three [...]

When I teach beginners, one of the most common phrases I hear is, “I cannot get this (insert tool name) to work. What’s wrong?” They hand the tool to me and the fun begins. Though block planes [...]

This Canadian school has its roots in the College of the Redwoods. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August 2004 issue of Popular Woodworking. Christopher Schwarz [...]

Armed with a little trickery, you can make the block plane perform a wide variety of tasks. Hang around enough woodshops (or Internet discussion groups) with a block plane in your hand and you’ll [...]