Shop Blog

My very talented friend, Jack Mauch, just completed a great looking door made of many segments of veneer quilted together to create a clever geometric pattern (aka parquetry). Each of the [...]

One of the most frustrating parts of using a smooth plane is when you have a low spot on your board that simply refuses to be planed out. There are several strategies. Here are just a few: Just [...]

This morning a colleague told me that Graham McCulloch, author of the ShortCuts blog is retiring from the online column after 22 years. Graham has been a voice in the woodworking community for [...]

In the first post in this CNC Skills series on Origin Points, I emphasized how critical reference positions are for digital woodworkers. When you’re working on a drawing in CAD, the origin point [...]

Thanks for all the great comments! Congratulations to “frossm,” the winner of this book giveaway. Stay tuned for more exciting book giveaways and if you’re interested in a copy [...]

When I went to the lumberyard to buy the stock for my first project of my own design I picked through the store’s entire stack of 1x12s to find the boards with the most attractive constellation [...]

As I mentioned in the first part of the story, Shay likes to frequent the Jaffa flea markets to look for all kinds of goodies. In fact, many of the tools that he uses come from boxes of [...]

On May 22 last year (2016) I complained about consolidation in the wood finishing industry, which is eliminating competition. The latest was Sherwin-Williams buying Valspar, a move that would [...]

Nearly every time that I approach the planer, I think to myself, how am I going to avoid snipe this time? Without fail, I end up with snipe at the leading or trailing edge at some point in the [...]

Gluing up narrow boards into big panels stresses out many beginning woodworkers. Sorry to say it, but I have another stressor to put on your shoulders: Don’t tarry. Schnell. Andele. Large panels [...]

It’s a shame customers don’t know as much about woodworking as woodworkers. They run their hands over your work and if it’s smooth they think it’s good – whereas you know [...]

By Norman Reid Design has always been one of my biggest challenges in woodworking. To be frank, I didn’t know how to create my own designs. I’m always amazed by the innovative designs of other [...]