Tag Archives: Workholding

A Workholding Renaissance

After years of decline, the industry that makes vises and holdfasts for woodworkers has come roaring back.

By Christopher Schwarz
Pages 36-40

In my first book, “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” (Popular Woodworking Books), I urged fellow woodworkers to “fight progress” and “invent nothing” when it came to designing their workbenches.

Boy, am I glad that the tool manufacturers ignored me completely.

Blog: Read “The Kitchen Test” for workbenches.
Blog: Read eight years of articles (free) by the author on workbenches.
Web Site: Visit workbenchdesign.net for bench-building ideas.
To Buy: “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” by Christopher Schwarz.
In Our Store: “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use.” Read more »

’55 Best Shop-Made Jigs’

Make your workshop a safer and more efficient place to build with this new CD collection of our 55 favorite shop-made jigs, fixtures and appliances culled from the last 12 years of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine. On “55 Best Shop-Made Jigs” (there simply wasn’t room on the cover to also fit “fixtures & appliances!”) … Read more »

The Icing on Work Standoffs

Poutine. Ice hockey. The outstanding parking ticket I owe in Montreal. I know I’m going to get spanked for this by our neighbors to the north, but those are the three things that come immediately to mind when I think of Canada. Yes, I know there are many wonderful things about Canada, and I would … Read more »

Authentic Holdfasts from Peter Ross

The first time I taught at Roy Underhill’s school in Pittsboro, N.C., Roy made sure that I met Peter Ross, a blacksmith who worked at Colonial Williamsburg for 25 years. We all ate dinner at gas station in Saxapawhaw – probably the best gas station food ever made on this planet. Seriously. Check this out. … Read more »