Bob Flexner takes out the myths and puts some sense back into a simple task. Read more
Finishing
Why We Hate Paint
Yesterday I finished up work on the dry sink that is the cover project for the Spring 2009 issue of Woodworking Magazine (Issue 13). As always, the finishing part of the project was as much an adventure as designing and building it. The project is made from Eastern white pine, so we knew that coloring … Read more
Nothing Magic About My Rag
Sometime back in 1996 I took a piece of cloth that was cast off from my wardrobe. I cannot remember what the garment was. A sweatshirt perhaps? Long underwear? It’s a bit stretchy. And I soaked the sucker in WD-40. Since that day, I have soaked that rag with every kind of oily substance you … Read more
The Basics of Wiping Varnish
Its durability and ease of use make searching out this hard-to-identify finish worth it. Read more
Pumpkin Pine, Like Ted Turner Would Love
Reader Greg Peel writes: I’m glad to see that the latest issue of Woodworking Magazine is a great one like the others. I was wondering if there is color picture of the pumpkin pine samples that you did for the issue? It looks very intriguing to me. I’ve always used some version of golden oak … Read more
Never Too Citified for a 'Deliverance' Moment
Adam Cherubini, who writes the Arts & Mysteries column for Popular Woodworking, ends up making a lot of his own tools to satisfy his 18th-century urges. The handsaws you see in the photos of his work? Those aren’t Kenyon-style saws from Wenzloff & Sons. Those are saws that Adam made himself. Same with his wooden … Read more
Like Making Sausage
Someone once told me that woodworkers cannot talk to other woodworkers without using their hands to explain things. And that’s true. But I’d like to amend that aphorism to say that woodworkers also like to talk with their pencils. I’ve even taken to carrying around a notebook with me in my back pocket (as a … Read more