Popular Woodworking in America: An Interview with Joe Zeh
Joe Zeh is a lifelong woodworker and an engineer with experience in the computer and graphics industry. He is author of “SketchUp: A Design Guide for Woodworkers” and also teaches [...]
The Lever Cap Isn’t a Screwdriver (Or is it?)
When I bought my first Stanley No. 5 in the mid-1990s, I regularly used the lever cap as a screwdriver to adjust the tension screw in the center of the frog and to tighten and loosen the cap iron [...]
Christopher Schwarz on Roman Workbenches
I recently stopped by the Lost Art Press shop to chat with Christopher Schwarz for a few minutes about Roman workbenches. He’s in the midst of building two of these in preparation for his [...]
An Imperfect Surface
For those of you who think that sanding and abrasive technology is a fairly new thing, I have news. Sanding is older than handplaning. As Geoffrey Killen points out in “Egyptian Woodworking and [...]
Bleaching the Color Out of Wood
Sometimes you want to make wood lighter than it is in its raw state. This is common when trying to match the wood to something that already exists. The way to do it is to first bleach out the [...]
Dutch Tool Chest Dovetails
I’m pressing pause on my saw restoration for a bit because I realized that once it’s refurbished, I will have no place to put it. I have a few hand tools that I’ve accumulated over [...]
Overflow Saw Storage
Christopher Schwarz has taught me many things over the 16 years I’ve worked closely with him, but two lessons just won’t stick. I will never learn to love late 19th/early 20th-century [...]
Oil/Varnish Blend Mythology
Every now and then someone comes into my shop, and in the course of conversation volunteers to me that his (it’s always a him) family had a secret formula for a finish that had been passed down [...]
October Preview – ‘Old Arn: Finding & restoring vintage shop machinery.’
Below is an excerpt from Jameel Abraham‘s article in the October 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine – start looking now for your “Old Arn” and get ready to restore! (The [...]
Adjusting Wooden-bodied Planes
Handplanes that secure the cutter with a wedge need to be adjusted with a series of taps from a mallet or a hammer. The principles below apply broadly to all wedged planes, whether it’s a wooden [...]
Six Myths About Wood Finishing
The time and cost of materials you invest in any woodworking project can make the final finishing stage a nerve-racking one. You want to get it right, and there are a lot of wild ideas out there [...]
IWF (International Woodworking Fair)
If you are a serious woodworker (even if you aren’t that good yet), and you’re looking for an unbelievable woodworking experience, let me suggest that you consider attending the International [...]
