Techniques

Blacksmithing is a hasty sport. Unlike woodworking, where you can step back and contemplate a cabinet’s lines or run your hands over a planed surface to check its smoothness, working with hot [...]

Cutting your own dovetails is a right of passage for many woodworkers. Many out there find it intimidating when they first start though. Here are a few techniques that will help you out (or help [...]

In previous entries, I explained how to lap short-bodied planes using diamond stones and sandpaper rolls (click to read parts 1 and 2.).  This entry is dedicated to lapping larger planes and [...]

Chris Schwarz shares some handy, nearly-forgotten handsaw tricks to use in the shop.

Last week I talked about the diamond stone technique for lapping the soles of small block planes. This week I will talk about another popular method – using abrasive tapes over a flat [...]

Much has been written about the importance of a true and flat plane sole as a key to achieving optimal results during planning. Premium planes come with a very flat sole, do not need any [...]

Hand tools are the way to go for this traditional joint. Tapered sliding dovetails are multipurpose joints traditionally used for drawer dividers, holding legs in place on a pedestal table and [...]

Nothing in handplaning is more frustrating than tear-out

A few weeks ago I was gifted an old wooden ammunition box that had one of its handles missing in action. The box also suffered from a few other structural issues, including a lengthy crack on one [...]

Understanding the importance of chip load calculations. If you have spent time using handheld routers then you have developed an intuitive sense for what is the ideal feed rate and speed for the [...]

A long-time carpenter shares a repair trick to hide the mistakes made by ham-handed apprentices. For more than 30 years I was a traveling carpenter foreman in charge of installation of [...]

This versatile router joint is perfect for production work. When I need to batch out a bunch of drawer boxes, I use a lock miter router bit. Not only does this bit create a joint with a clean, [...]