As you can see, I did get into the shop this week to begin on my workbench storage boxes. The thing I most like about building my own design – after 15 plus years building 18th- and early 19th-Century designs for customers – is that I can change the design clear up until I can’t. … Read more
This week, I swear I’m getting started on my workbench. To heck with my computer, I need to make dust or something. It’s time to get into the shop. Trouble is, I don’t have, as of yet, any tools at the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop. I need a place to store my tools when I … Read more
As I read many of your comments and suggestions for my bench drawer storage, I also talked with executive editor Bob Lang. Bob suggested that I consider making my drawers depths in multiples of 2″, such as 2″, 4″ and 6″ deep drawers. If I then position the grooves cut into the case sides at … Read more
One of the biggest obstacles to beginning woodworkers is carving out a space to work in, and building a bench to work on. Recently, I built a pair of portable workbenches that are closely based on a now-disappeared commercial bench from the 20th century. These small-scale benches clamp to almost any surface, from a kitchen … Read more
I’m in the midst of making my mom’s Christmas present*, and though I did the machine work at the “office” today, I decided to bring the surfaced and mortised pieces home (the hollow-chisel mortiser is my favorite power tool) and cut the tenons by hand. Yes, I could have cut them on the table saw, … Read more
I see a lot of workbenches. Lots of them are gorgeous. Many of them are tough. Few benches are both. Last weekend at Woodworking in America in Pasadena, Calif., I got to use a massive Nicholson-style workbench made by Erik Mortensen, an instructor at Cerritos College. For the most part, the bench is made from … Read more
Earlier this year I wrote about a portable workbench top that went up for sale in an Australian auction. It was an ingenious solution to a problem that many woodworkers face: How do I do woodworking while watching television in the house? Well, that’s one of the problems this solves. This bench gizmo also is … Read more
