Our cover story for the November 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking is a stunning southern lady’s desk, built by Glen D. Huey, contributing editor. This piece is among the 27 projects in our upcoming book, Furniture in the Southern Style, by Glen and Robert W. Lang, executive editor.
In another story from Glen (he’s been busy for this issue!), we have an interview with Tommy MacDonald, host of PBS’s latest woodworking show, Rough Cut: Woodworking with Tommy Mac. Glen goes behind the scenes with Tommy and gains some insight into the host and the show.
Amaze your friends with quadrilateral and rising dovetails after you read The ‘Impossitails’ Zone by Roy Underhill. Roy shows you how to lay out and cut these intriguing joints.
Jeff Miller shows you how to make nine clever and useful tools out of scrap plane parts in New Uses for Old Handplanes.
Willard Anderson’s Make a Shapely Bowsaw shows you how to build a bowsaw with proper, tapered handle holes that make it period-correct. And in addition to working well, this tool is a thing of beauty!
Bob Flexner discusses how to make your own wiping varnish, and shares four different (and foolproof) methods of applying this versatile finish.
Megan Fitzpatrick, managing editor, builds a simple one-day tool tote for this issue’s I Can Do That project.
In this month’s Tool Test, we take a look at Bosch’s new Random-orbit Sander, the Benchcrafted Double-screw ‘Moxon’ Vise and a Senco 18-gauge Cordless Brad Nailer.
In Arts & Mysteries, Adam Cherubini finishes his two part-series on how to keep your edges sharp (the first part appeared in the October 2011 issue).
Elia Bizzarri shares in End Grain how persistence (and a crazy mother ) can help in landing an apprenticeship.
Detailed article previews are below. Online Extras (downloads, links, etc.) are found within that article.
[description]Articles from the November 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine[/description][keywords]Popular Woodworking Magazine, Magazine Articles, Technique Articles, Project Articles, Tool Reviews, Finishing[/keywords]
I don’t consider myself a furniture snob, but until recently, I’d not studied furniture from the South beyond pieces featured in “Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection” by Ronald L. Hurst and Johnathan Prown (Colonial Williamsburg).
After spending a few days combing through file cabinets at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), I found I’ve been missing a vast array of gorgeous furniture.
The box arrives in the mail and the new plane you’ve been yearning for has finally arrived. You spend a few minutes admiring the workmanship, then get to work flattening the back of the plane iron and honing a razor sharp edge. You take a few whisper-thin shavings and feel contentment.
Wedged through-tenons keep this handle secure. By Megan Fitzpatrick Pages: 58-60 From the November 2011 issue #193 Buy this issue now Whether you’re using it for woodworking tools or garden tools, a tote is a simple and quick project. It’s so simple, in fact, that I decided to add a wee degree of difficulty with … Read more »
The bowsaw is an ancient tool and a member of a class of saws called frame saws, in which tension from the frame is designed to hold the blade taut. Also sometimes called a “turning saw,” the bowsaw features a very narrow and thin blade with handles that turn in the frame – that makes it particularly useful for cutting curves and fretwork. Because the blade is attached by means of loose pins that are inserted in holes at each end of the blade, it is easy for a blade to be removed from the frame and slipped through a pilot hole in the stock, then remounted on the frame for cutting.
With no cords to attach and no cartridges to replace, this 18-gauge cordless brad nailer from Senco is a handy tool for quick nailing jobs in the shop, or for use on jobsites when no compressor is available. The “Fusion F-18” runs off a Lithium-ion battery, so if you charge it after every use, it will be ready to use when you need it.
As ‘Rough Cut’ begins season two, we discover the host’s career path to television success. By Glen D. Huey Pages: 40-43 From the November issue #193 Buy this issue now I’m a firm believer that every person has a talent; everyone is great at something. To find that something and make it your life’s work … Read more »
In the December 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (#187), Christopher Schwarz wrote about building the all-wood double-screw vise from Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” (1678). This vise is a back’s best friend; clamp it on the edge of your bench, and use it to raise your work to a comfortable height for working on the edges.
