Shop Blog

OK, they’re done. Total materials cost (2 chairs): $107. For me, building the Adirondack chairs was a nice 2-month journey through several new skills and a larger knowledge base. I feel ready to [...]

Last weekend during the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Charleston, S.C., I completed three try squares and even applied the finish right at the bench using a polissoir (French for “polisher”). [...]

SketchUp Make and Pro 2014 brought with it many improvements including the upgrade from Ruby 1.8.7 to Ruby 2.0 for its Ruby API and Plugins. Like most improvements, there are some casualties and [...]

In the April 2014 issue, I reviewed the Magnetic-mount LED Work Light that’s carried by Lee Valley Tools (click here if you wish to read the review). I had only one complaint – and it was [...]

We are adding a significant chunk of video content to our line-up over the next year or so. We are also planning to overhaul and organize the video content that’s already in place, so that [...]

Here’s a basic trick for planing up the rails and stiles for your doors. If you use power sanders, move along quietly to some other blog entry. The random-orbit sander was pretty much invented to [...]

Q & A: Avoiding Swirl Marks   Q: I just stained a tabletop and found it covered with tiny swirl marks from my random-orbital sander.What did I do wrong? A: Swirl marks are inevitable. [...]

While working on my kitchen last Saturday, I had to cut a notch in the butcher block countertop to fit the apron-front sink in place. One side of the counter was long enough and therefore heavy [...]

Tablesaw Tool Drawer It seems like I’m always misplacing my push sticks, blade wrench, featherboards and other small tablesaw accessories.To solve my problem I added a shallow drawer under [...]

Most of us know Joseph Moxon as the author of “Mechanick Exercises” – a now-famous early work on everything from joinery to smithing. He also invented a vise that sits higher than your typical [...]

A couple folk have contacted us with questions about lodging and local delicacies in preparation for a trip to Cincinnati for the April 4-5 Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event (10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 10 [...]

Spending my entire adult (and a good portion of my teenage) life as a maker of 17th-, 18th- and early 19th-century style furniture has been wonderful and has opened many doors for me – but that [...]