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Backside Out After dabbling with woodworking for a couple of years, I finally got up the courage to build some kitchen cabinets, starting with an 8′ long upper unit. I composed a detailed [...]

Period woodworking trades in London were strictly regulated. I’ve temporarily put down my 5⁄16” joiner’s mortising chisel in favor of a 2″ chisel for chopping carpenter’s mortises. [...]

The two products – both useful – are quite different. Dating back at least 100 years, the term “lacquer” has referred to a non-crosslinking finish that thins with lacquer thinner. The most common [...]

Practice is the best of all instructors. Maynard lived next door. When he wasn’t spinning wrenches at the local Ford garage, he was out in his driveway, hunched over a neighbor’s car. As a kid I [...]

Winter is the perfect time for fireplaces and firewood, and the best firewood is the one you generate yourself. The late Moravian psychoanalyst, Dr. Schtriker Von Axen, used to teach his meek and [...]

Early modern records show guild regulations in London. Early 17th-century London tradesmen were protective about their work, carefully keeping an eye on any interlopers to their craft. A dispute [...]

Isometric views help keep your designs grounded. The kite leapt into the wind and I frantically uncoiled string that burned and chafed my hands and fingers. The thin wooden crossbeams bent almost [...]

Knowing which half to believe is why finishing seems so difficult. Many years ago I coined what I call my “half-right rule.” That is, half of what you read or hear about finishing is right; you [...]

I’ve always aspired to be one of those handymen who has every tool for every job, enough knowledge to handle any repair, and just the right piece of scrap lumber on hand for every single [...]

Understanding causes and remedies of this typically shallow damage. A friend sent me a web link to a video and short text recommending the use of mayonnaise to remove white water rings on [...]

I’ve made over 600 screwdrivers. Does that get me into the Tool Nut club? It all started with a handle I turned for a file. I enjoyed this work so much that I started making handles for other [...]

Thoughts on Adam Savage’s Every Tool’s a Hammer Buy the book here You may recognize the man on the cover of this book, Adam Savage, as one half of the duo from TV’s “Mythbusters.” The show ran [...]