I Am a Couch Builder
The best measure of success comes in the doing. I don’t know if I am alone in this matter, but I have to admit that quite often I consider myself a couch builder. Maybe you know the drill [...]
That One Project
I was about to make a desk for my son John’s bedroom and in my mind it was a beautiful thing: simple, sleek and with elegant proportions. Drawings and a cut list were completed. Walnut boards [...]
Past Imperfect
If anyone ever sees that, they’re looking too closely. I spend a lot of time looking at antique furniture, often from below. My interest is pieces made about 100 years ago, from the Arts & [...]
‘Frankenbench’
Editor’s note: this article originally appeared in the February 2013 of Popular Woodworking A dream deferred – and that’s just fine. I’ve dreamed about my Workbench for years. It will be [...]
The Myth of the Self-taught Craftsman
The best source for learning is right there on your bench. At a seminar I found myself saying that I mostly taught myself woodworking. It was an easy way to get the idea across that I did not go [...]
A Shaker’s Life
Research gives names to unknown artisans. David Rowley, Freegift Wells, Amos Stewart, Orren Haskens, Eli Kidder…ever hear of these guys? They were Shaker cabinetmakers, the names behind one [...]
Why I Adore My Machines
Grab your torch and pitchfork; the hand-tool guy has a table saw. Editor’s note: this article appeared in the November 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking People react with shock and horror [...]
My Best Tools are Made of Paper
Exposure to great furniture hones the eyes for quality and proportion. Woodworking is, all at once, frustrating, elating, challenging and straightforward stupid simple. It combines the elements [...]
Lessons from a Lifetime Maker
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 [...]
End Grain: ‘Put Yer Ass Into It’
A boring task turns into a history lesson. This article originally appeared in the April 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking One day in Williamsburg, a message reached me at the carpenter’s yard [...]
A Father’s Legacy
Christmas, 1956. I was a little fella, and my seeing the Tonka Hi-Way series display in the W.T. Grant store months earlier had captured my entire attention. In my letter to Santa, I asked for [...]
