After hours and hours and hours of work (please, some kind soul, send Vodka), I was finally able to get “Handplane Essentials,” by Christopher Schwarz, into a PDF format that plays nice with all PDF-equipped eReaders. The Boring Stuff This is more information that you no doubt want, but the problem seems to be that … Read more
This is a model of a small block of wood used to practice layout and joinery. Read more
Jim Tolpin’s newest book, “The New Traditional Woodworker” teaches the reader how to work with hand tools by using them to build useful bench and shop tools. Each project builds on the skill learned in the preceding chapter. This process makes for an easy and fun learning curve. One of the more attractive project tools … Read more
If you’re interested in learning to cut dovetails by hand, boy do you have choices. Google hand-cut dovetail videos and the returns total more than 100,000 (no, I didn’t count them). Yesterday I watched Rob Cosman’s second DVD on dovetails, hence the name “Hand-cut Dovetails 2.0.” It’s been 10 years since his first dovetail video. … Read more
I just received my advance copy of Jim Tolpin’s new book, The New Traditional Woodworker, and even though I was very involved with putting the book together, it’s always a pleasant surprise to see the finished product. I’m proud of this one! Beyond the fact that Jim has put together an excellent teaching platform for … Read more
Several readers have asked how to go about squaring up the two legs of the English Layout Square from the December 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Do you square it up before assembly? After? What tools do you use to make it square? How do I determine if the square is indeed square? Why … Read more
Cutting joinery by hand isn’t a romantic journey to the charms of bygone days. For me, it’s a way to obtain better results in less time. I got tired of fiddling with table saw setups and making test cuts. I didn’t like dealing with cuts that were sometimes great and sometimes had a ragged edge … Read more
