Projects

Desktop File Holder   A desktop file holder is a great office accessory. It provides easy and immediate access to the files you’re currently working with so you don’t wear a path between [...]

I’ve finally decided on a design for a kitchen island that will hold a mid-sized microwave and cookbooks, and serve as a table with room for stool storage underneath. The design parameters [...]

Restore a Chest of Drawers Make broken-down drawers fit and work like new By Tim Johnson At first glance, the broken-down chest of drawers looks like a lost cause—a wreck even by garage-sale [...]

Photo Album By Dave Munkittrick   Do you have a pile of photos waiting to be put in an album? We all do. That’s why you can’t go wrong making these distinctive photo albums for [...]

Shop-Made Sanding Blocks   Q: Commercial sanding blocks all have some kind of padded bottom. Do my shop-made blocks need to be padded, too?   A: Yes they do. Padded blocks have two [...]

Air-Drying Lumber It’s the low-cost, low-tech way to dry lumber. Here’s how to do it right. By Dave Munkittrick Want a truly cheap and easy way to dry lumber? Consider air drying. [...]

  When it comes to understanding the history of furniture, I think John Gloag put it best when he wrote: “Nearly all articles of free-standing furniture are variations on two basic shapes: a [...]

Air Scrubber Trio Three shop-made machines that clear the air. By Ed Krause   Dust haze.Even if you have a dust collection system you’ve probably found yourself in the middle of it. This [...]

Faster Sharpening One of my favorite sharpening tools is a diamond paddle. I use it for router bits, knives and, most importantly, scrapers. The problem is that it cuts so fast the tiny spaces [...]

A student emailed me and asked: “How do I model the cut a core box router bit makes in SketchUp?” At first glance you might think the answer is the usual – model the shape of [...]

Reclaimed Lumber Back at the beginning of April I wrote about some household items I made using leftovers from a commissioned project. Well, I thought I'd show you the original project. [...]

Folding Worktable This simple, roll-around worktable fits in tight spaces yet expands to a huge work surface. By David Radtke   Here’s a work space that’s huge and accessible from all sides, [...]