Shop Blog

For me, the goal with my smoothing plane is to set it up so I can ignore the grain direction of a board or a glued-up panel. There are many valid ways to do this. For most woodworkers I know, …

I’m the weirdo who counts the number of steps and hand motions it takes me to brew a cup of coffee. And I’m always looking for ways to shave away a few minutes here and there from my routine [...]

At ShopWoodworking.com, sure, you’ll find all the woodworking magazines, books, videos and webinars we produce. But ShopWoodworking.com is also your one-stop woodworking shop for many of the best [...]

In the June 2015 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (which should be landing in subscriber mailboxes any day now if you’ve not already received it) I chose as “highly [...]

Don’t ya just hate those woodworkers who seemingly pick up and master new skills effortlessly? (A certain Village Carpenter and Heritage Woodworker come to my mind.) This type of person is truly [...]

The last woodworking book that had me reading cover to cover was “Is it Genuine.” Here’s another that had me doing the same: “Time, Taste and Furniture,” by John [...]

I like McDonald’s. It’s not haute cuisine, but I like it. One of the things that makes me like McDonald’s is that whether I order my Sausage McMuffin with Egg and an extra hash [...]

At long last, there is a fantastic and reasonably priced tri-bolt available so you can make your own campaign stool. The hardware is beautifully machined from solid brass and stainless steel, [...]

For a new woodworker, finding an effective way to work these days can be tough. It would be easy to choose a totally unplugged path. And what a wonderful path that is. The Eaton County [...]

Basic handplane theory states that long planes are for straightening wood and short planes are for smoothing it. The planes in the middle can do either job or be set up for roughing out the work. [...]

I’m a big fan of Mike Rowe, the “Dirty Jobs” guy. I say that having only seen a few episodes of that show. I came to know him from his Ted Talks, online interviews and his address to Congress. I [...]

I wouldn’t typically give away free on our site an article that hasn’t yet been seen by magazine subscribers. But this is not a typical situation, and time is of the essence. Don [...]