Chairmaking requires its own unique tools and skillset. It may be daunting, but building a Windsor chair opens up a whole new world within woodworking. Here's how to do it.
This rare and timeless silhouette is updated for contemporary use. When our youngest went off to kindergarten, my wife took on freelance copy-editing and needed a work station. An executive-size [...]
These doors are all about the angles – learn to bisect them using geometry and it’s a snap. When I walk into the American decorative arts Gallery at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., I am [...]
Can a portable, foot-powered lathe make a believer out of you? Wood turning on a spring pole lathe is all about reciprocation, all about back and forth. For example: Q: “Don’t you get tired of [...]
It won’t solve a tool addiction, but it’ll make finding tools easier. You’ve no doubt seen photos of the H.O. Studley tool cabinet – the Sistine Chapel of tool cabinets. And as far as I’m [...]
Make these French moulding planes that are essential for every hand-tool kit. Hollows and rounds are making a strong comeback in the hand tool woodworking world. However, many woodworkers are [...]
Conquer some fun joinery challenges with this geometric Baillie Scott build. As soon as I saw Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott’s 1901 occasional table on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, [...]
With $100 in lumber and two days, you can build this sturdy stowaway bench. Many knockdown workbenches suffer from unfortunate compromises. Inexpensive commercial benches that can be knocked down [...]
Create sultry sophistication with Art Deco details. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1933) is considered by craftspeople, collectors and designers to be the premier Art Deco furniture maker; he was [...]
This stool builds your skills with eight different joints and bent laminations. Competition is the whetstone of talent; this was in full effect when I built this Wharton Esherick-inspired stool [...]
Design without compromise: An exercise in high-end handwork. Sometimes a cup of tea is more than a cup of tea. Its surface may be still, its color translucent and its container unadorned. But in [...]
The road to enlightenment is paved with lots of little strips of wood. I am not by nature organized or detail-oriented. When I was young, I was the guy with the punk rock blaring and the [...]