Shop Blog

Sooner or later into every woodworker’s life stiles and rails must fall. And, unless you leave them square, you’re going to have to deal with sticking. You know what sticking is, [...]

Last summer I built a workbench that was as close to the bench shown in A.-J. Roubo’s plate 11 as I could manage. While I still have three details to add to my bench (a drawer, a tool rack and …

Spray-On Crackle Finish   Q: Is it possible to get a crackle finish in a pigmented, water-based lacquer that is applied with an HVLP spray gun? If so, please tell me how. A: Yes, it can be [...]

Glue & Clamps A dry run is the key to a hassle-free glue-up. By Ian Kirby Everything looked good, until you added glue and clamps. Then the wood began to slip and slide, you scrambled for [...]

In the coming weeks (and months), we’ll have a great deal more  to share about Woodworking in America 2014, but for now, know this: Dates: Sept. 12-14, 2014 Location: Winston-Salem, N.C. [...]

IKEA hacking – buying furniture kits (sometimes charming, sometimes not) from the Swedish mega-retailer IKEA, then altering the kits to create your own designs (sometimes charming, sometimes [...]

Steel Wool Holder I came up with this idea because I often use steel wool, bronze wool, and synthetic-steel wool. I attach the hook part of adhesive-backed, hook-and-loop strips to a piece of [...]

Splitter for Narrow Pieces   Q:   How can I avoid burn marks when ripping thin strips?       A:   Add a splitter to your zero-clearance throat plate. A splitter [...]

I have visited a lot of woodworking clubs in North America since 1996, and I thought I had seen it all until I stepped into the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild’s enormous facility today. Perched on [...]

  Behind the Stairs Storage In my basement shop every square inch counts! Out of necessity I found a wealth of unused space tucked right under my nose, or should I say feet. That awkward [...]

I’m often asked if we accept unsolicited queries. We do. We just haven’t had the submission guidelines posted on the web site for the last couple of years – and now we do. Every issue [...]

It’s hard to separate woodworking from history. Most of the skills we need and tools we use come from earlier times when everyday items that are now mostly plastic or cardboard were made of [...]