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This centuries-old device is effective in use and simple to make. In my early years as a woodworker I was prejudiced against veneer – but experience has mellowed my opinion; I’ve realized [...]

An 18th-century French workbench is quite possibly the most perfect design ever put to paper. In the 18th century it was common for the workrooms and living areas of a home to share the same [...]

After receiving and unwrapping the bench (read part 1 of the story here) I had to decide whether to finish it or leave it smooth and raw. Benchcrafted provides a very good reference sheet filled [...]

Although I did not grow up in the United States (I came here in my 30s), the American holiday of Thanksgiving was not totally foreign to me. The notion that once a year we collectively reflect on [...]

Make these French moulding planes that are essential for every hand-tool kit. Hollows and rounds are making a strong comeback in the hand tool woodworking world. However, many woodworkers are [...]

Saturday mornings are among the best hours I get all week. My wife and daughters all like to sleep in late, but I get up early, make coffee, and use that quiet time to read, draw or write. It was [...]

With the growth of hand tools in woodworking, or should I say the return to hand tools in woodworking, many up-and-coming furniture makers think that the final pass on a panel or surface is [...]

Assembling workbenches in the old-school manner is a nail-biter. If the drawbores are too close together, then you drive the peg in and nothing happens. The tenon isn’t pulled into the mortise. [...]

It’s funny how my chainsaw skills have gone through the roof since I started to build lots of workbenches in 1999. Today I cut down a buttload of 6 x 6 x 16’ Douglas Fir beams for a [...]

Christopher Schwarz and Lucy May are pleased to announce the newest addition to their family. Length: 18”. Weight: 9 lbs., 4 oz. Birth date: Feb. 15, 2012. Delivered by: Peter Ross, blacksmith [...]

For me, the highlight of 2010’s Woodworking in America conference was The Feast of André Roubo, a dinner held high above the city of Cincinnati. And I was not alone. One attendee stopped me as I [...]

Woodworkers are always looking for a better way to flatten the top of their workbench after they finish building it, or when the top has gone out of truth for some reason. I like using a [...]