Best Wood Types for Finger Joints The type of wood used will make a difference in how forgiving the joint is to put together. Softer woods, such as pine or poplar, will compress when assembled. [...]
The difference between school and real life is that in real life the tests come first and then the lessons. This is especially true of woodworking; you never know how far you should take one step [...]
Learning woodworking isn’t just about “how to” do something. A good example of this comes from my days as an apprentice in a commercial cabinet shop. I entered the experience [...]
When I teach woodworkers about SketchUp we always reach a point where I say, “the level of detail to include in your model is up to you”. Then I explain the level that I usually work [...]
Hollow-chisel mortisers are one of my favorite tools. When mortising machines were first invented, a drill bit and a chisel were mounted side by side. Ralph and Robert Greenlee changed all that, [...]
There was a time when nearly even adult male in the United States owned a Stanley #4 smooth plane. The one I have was passed down to me by my dad (a chemical engineer) who got it from his dad …
I once worked with a guy who maintained that white oak wasn’t suited for furniture and that whiskey barrels are a far better use for this wood. Looking at the pile of wood in the photo you [...]
It’s hard to separate woodworking from history. Most of the skills we need and tools we use come from earlier times when everyday items that are now mostly plastic or cardboard were made of [...]
Of all the variables of design, context is the easiest to miss. That is one of the powerful things about using SketchUp, you can easily compare one piece to another, add a human figure to the [...]
I’m in the early planning stages for an upcoming project build for Popular Woodworking Magazine. The project will be a reproduction of a wardrobe cabinet from the early 1900s. I was trying [...]
I spent a good part of the summer designing and building this simple looking cabinet, the cover project for the December 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The issue should be on its way [...]
Greene & Greene never designed a tall case clock, but Dale Barnard, one of our authors, designed and built a clock in the style. The Indiana State Museum has included Dale’s clock in [...]