Author Archives: Article Index

In the end, are period tools right for post-Industrial materials?

By Adam Cherubini
Pages 58-59

I began my machinist’s chest project with the intention of using it to commune with the greater modern woodworking world. I wasn’t kidding. The chest is designed to hold the miscellaneous tools that I think of as non-traditional, but in reality are the essential tools for 99.9 percent of woodworkers. (There’s no place in my traditional tool chest for hex wrenches, machinist’s squares, metal rules, plastic-handled screwdrivers and the like.) I think the finished machinist’s chest is both useful and attractive.

Blog: Read Adam Cherubini’s blog.
In Our Store: “Mechanick Exercises,” by Joseph Moxon. Read more »

Learn how to choose and use these essential shaping tools.

By Robert W. Lang
Pages 50-54

Rasps are simple tools, yet incredibly versatile. With a good rasp, you can remove band saw marks from a curved surface, shape a cabriole leg, round over an edge, tweak a tenon and modify a mortise. Powered by hand, they are quite efficient, and unlike the dozens of power-tool alternatives for these tasks, rasps offer a tremendous degree of control.

Video: See how rasps are made in this video from Liogier.
Blog: Read about using rasps for shaping curves on our editor’s blog.
Read more »

By Steve Shanesy
Page 18

Four-jaw scroll chucks used in wood turning largely work the same. They have interchangeable jaws held by screws, and the jaws open or close using a geared key, a hex key or tommy bars. The jaws usually have a dovetail-shaped rim that clamps a similarly shaped tenon turned on the base of the workpiece.

The Easy Chuck is an altogether new chuck now available from Easy Wood Tools. It is simple to operate – and exhibits the same game-changing innovation as the turning tools the company introduced a few years ago.

Video: Watch a short demo of the Easy Chuck online. Read more »

By Megan Fitzpatrick
Page 18

Some woodworkers – myself included – are leery of filing their own saws. But this new saw file holder from Veritas takes away some of the fear by “tricking” you (through both tactile and visual cues) into holding triangular saw files in the correct orientation for your desired tooth geometry.

Article: Download our article on building a simple saw vise for your shop. Read more »

By Christopher Schwarz
Page 16

The longer your jointer plane, the straighter the work that flows beneath it. Because of that maxim of handwork, some Old World planes for making furniture were lengthy – 36″ isn’t unusual.

Most modern jointers top out at 24″ long, so picking up the new 36″ jointer from Scott Meek Woodworks is a time-bending experience. On the one hand, it’s like using an old Dutch jointer because of its wooden body and extreme length. But it’s made like one of the planes James Krenov made famous – its body is laminated to create the bed and sidewalls of the tool. And the tool has flowing shapes like a futuristic sports car.

Video: See two ways to grip this plane. Read more »

This full-featured, 5″ tool is powered by an 18v lithium-ion battery.

By Steve Shanesy
Page 16

Makita has liberated the pigtail from a full-sized random-orbit sander with the introduction of the 5″ LXT 18-volt lithium-ion cordless sander.

Cordless sanders have challenged manufacturers because of the continuous-duty nature of the tool; only Makita and Ryobi have one on the market.

Video: Watch a short demo of the LXT cordless sander online. Read more »

A lifelong dream of woodworking
is ready to come to fruition.

By Mike Hudson
Page 64

I stared up at the silent giant, standing twice as tall as me – polished wood, crystal-clear glass, full of brass gears and weights that seemed like gold to my young eyes. I was waiting for the top of the hour, when this sleeping giant, quiet other than the steady tick of its heartbeat, would come to life and fill the house with a cacophony of chimes and bells before returning again to its dormant state.

In Our Store: Glen D. Huey’s “Building 18th-century American Furniture” (which includes the Clock shown above). Read more »