Spoon Carving with Peter Follansbee on ‘The Woodwright’s Shop’ – Free
Our latest kit of the month is all about spoon carving (see below) – and to pique your interest, here’s a free episode of Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop” [...]
One Week until Woodworking in America
At this time a week from today, I’ll be setting up benches and classrooms in Kansas City, Mo., for Woodworking in America 2015 (unless something goes wrong terribly wrong with the [...]
Chinese Workbenches – a Little Bit Roman?
When you start studying ancient woodworking tools, it’s the similarities that are most striking – not the differences. Saws, chisels and planes – the core tools of the furniture maker – are only [...]
Vintage Chisel Bliss
I can’t help it. And I don’t want to help it. Between projects, I really enjoy getting to know different tools and discovering what I like and why I like them. It’s good fun and [...]
Cheap, Simple & Portable (Yes, Another Workbench)
Though I find it darn-near impossible to believe, it has been more than five years since we published plans for a full-sized workbench. That was Christopher Schwarz’s “Return of [...]
In Praise of the Engineer’s Hammer (aka a Lump Hammer)
While I was at David Savage’s workshop I was delighted and surprised to see he used a “lump hammer” for assembling casework. David brought the hammer to my workbench when he helped me knock [...]
On Cabinetmakers’ Hammers & Where to Buy Them
I’ll begin with the top-notch U.S.-made hammers that were introduced to the market in recent years. Kings County Cabinetmaker’s Hammer At the top of the list stands the Gramercy Tools [...]
A Furniture Show, Vandals & a Mystery
Two weeks ago I managed to spend a few hours at the Celebration of Craftsmanship & Design in Cheltenham, an impressive display of bespoke furniture makers both young and seasoned. [...]
A Tour of David Savage’s Workshop and School
For the last two weeks I’ve been teaching a course and taking a class in veneering at David Savage’s school and workshop, which sits on a farm in rural Devon. It is an inspiring place where [...]
Finishing Furniture Projects
I recently found myself with that most fortunate of situations – a whole day in the shop. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: get some furniture projects finished. I had three waiting for the [...]
On Cabinetmakers’ Hammers & Their Usefulness
After concluding my very subjective series on the best design for round-headed mallets, I decided to dedicate one (or two) entries to the cabinetmaker’s hammer. Traditionally, hammers are used [...]
Hand-tool Cleanup
Most of my good woodworking tools have sat idle since April 10 or so, when I packed them up to move out of my old house, then hauled them to the Popular Woodworking shop for storage and [...]
