Popular Woodworking Magazine » Chris Schwarz Blog

Shut up and Sharpen

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:04:27 +0000

I make it a point to avoid blogging about sharpening. It is the simplest thing to do that is made confusing by too much talk and too many commercial products. I honestly do not care how you sharpen your tools. If you can get a zero-radius intersection and then polish the two surfaces, then you … Read more »

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‘The Traitor’s Tool Chest’ Now Available on DVD

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:30:36 +0000

When I first mentioned the topic of my latest DVD, my e-mail inbox filled up with messages such as: “This project is beneath you. Beneath all of us. You traitor.” And that’s the G-rated version. The DVD, “A Traditional Tool Chest in Two Days,” takes a home-center approach to building an 18th-century-style tool chest with … Read more »

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Drawer Construction Details Make Life Easier

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:58:49 +0000

Woodworkers are shy people – especially at the beginning of their journey. They make parts or assemblies oversized and then plane, sand or rasp them to fit. On one hand, this makes sense. It’s easier to take wood off than to put it back on. However, the other hand is already done with the job … Read more »

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I Want to Give You ‘Go Fever’

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:49:49 +0000

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 »

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The Dumb Way to Teach Design

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:50:56 +0000

While I like and appreciate strict reproductions, I’ve always preferred to design my own stuff. How do I design a piece? In the only way I know how. It’s not easy. There are no formulas or rules or ratios. It is by a process I call “saturation and feedback.” Step 1: Absorb everything you can … Read more »

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On Steve Shanesy’s Last Day

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:48:27 +0000

All woodworking stories are – by definition – somewhat sappy. This one is even more so. The day I met Steve Shanesy I was a burned-out writer, designer and editor. I was managing a newspaper that was swirling around the rim of the toilet bowl. I was writing about politics – something I didn’t care … Read more »

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The Milkman’s Workbench in Use

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:27:57 +0000

The Milkman’s Workbench – a portable bench I built for the June 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine – is about 653 percent better than my first workbench. Thanks to the clever engineering in the portable bench, it can handle most handwork tasks when clamped to a dining room table or kitchen countertop. My first … Read more »

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‘Milkman’s Workbench’ Without Screws

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:59:09 +0000

The portable “Milkman’s Workbench” from the June 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine has attracted a lot of attention, judging from the e-mail piling up in my Inbox. The No. 1 question: How can I build the bench without wooden bench screws? One answer: wedges. Reader Ilkka Sivonen of FInland built the bench without wooden … Read more »

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German Workbench: Artistic License or Pure Genius?

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:25:29 +0000

I’ve collected tons of drawings of old workbenches, during the years, and most fall into two categories: 1. A typical workbench with typical vises that looks like lots of other workbenches. 2. Workbenches that were drawn by an artist that have vises that would never work and that are put in stupid places where vises … Read more »

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Round Bench Dogs that Don’t Rotate

Christopher Schwarz — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:00:36 +0000

If there is one disadvantage to round bench dogs, it is that they can occasionally rotate as you are clamping something between two dogs or when you are planing against a single dog. It’s a minor annoyance, but it’s real. An Italian reader devised a very clever solution to this problem that is quick. I … Read more »

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