In some high technology circles there is an expression they use when engineers move too quickly to launch a project. They have “go fever” and are willing to overlook horrible mistakes in order to launch a product. When teaching woodworking – especially casework – I find that most students need to take down their protective netting, … Read more
Joinery
How To Glue Miter Joints-Wait a Minute
Miter joints can be a real source of frustration. The pieces need to be the exact length and the cut surfaces need to be as close to perfect as you can get them. If they don’t look great right off the saw, use a shooting board and a plane, or rub the surfaces on a … Read more
Dovetails with Help from the Drill Press
When I make a lot of half-blind dovetails, I’ll use a drill press to help bore out the waste between the pins. The video below shows how I do. Some caveats to consider before you try to cram your boot between my buttocks via a comment below: 1. Ya, I use machines at times to … Read more
Secret Dovetails for the Rest of Us
I hate end grain. In my work, I take great pains to hide every square inch of it. This often means cutting joinery that is more involved. For example, on my spice chest, I could simply have used through-dovetails to join the top to the sides of the case. Like the original maker, I chose … Read more
800 Interlocking Wooden Parts, 8 Men, 1 Chinese Pavilion
As a child, I disliked assembling puzzles. What’s the fun in piecing together hundreds of pieces of cardboard into a flat image of a happy whale family? But Lincoln Logs, on the other hand, had my full attention. Yes, I know I was not a consistent child. This week I drove to the Headley-Whitney Museum … Read more
Cut Accurate and Clean Rabbets
By Christopher Schwarz From the Spring 2004 issue of Woodworking Magazine, pages 8-11 When I was taught to cut rabbets in my first woodworking class, we made them with two cuts on the table saw. You’ve probably seen this technique in books and magazines before. For the first cut, the work is flat on the … Read more
Better Dados for Casework
We wanted perfect dados: precise in size and location. All it took was a router and a simple T-square jig. By Robert Lang From the Spring 2005 issue of Woodworking Magazine, pages 25-27 Dados are a “bread and butter” kind of joint. They’re simple and strong, and a router with a straight bit and a … Read more