http://www.popularwoodworking.com Woodworking advice, woodworking plans, woodworking projects and woodworking blogs Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:46:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/i-saw-it-she-saw-it-we-all-saw-it http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/i-saw-it-she-saw-it-we-all-saw-it#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:21:39 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=134431
As instructors at woodworking classes, we spend most of our time sampling bon-bons and braiding each others hair while the students work away the last bits of their cartilage between their poor, overtaxed joints. Today was not so fun for the instructors. While the students merrily dovetailed away their carcasses at The Woodwright’s School, the Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/i-saw-it-she-saw-it-we-all-saw-it/feed 5 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/build-a-tool-chest-at-the-woodwrights-school http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/build-a-tool-chest-at-the-woodwrights-school#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:31:18 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=134061 Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/build-a-tool-chest-at-the-woodwrights-school/feed 9 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-pause-in-the-hostilities http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-pause-in-the-hostilities#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:03:17 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=133661
I finished yesterday fitting the three bottom drawers to the Campaign Secretary I’m building and I started in on building the gallery – it’s all dovetailed now. I’d be quite happy with my progress if I weren’t about to get into a car. For the next 10 days I’ll be on the road, taping a Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-pause-in-the-hostilities/feed 10 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/straight-from-the-frenchmans-mouth http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/straight-from-the-frenchmans-mouth#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:15:28 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=133541
Can we not agree that I am not of sound mind and body? Yup? OK, read on. Last year I commissioned blacksmith Peter Ross to make a holdfast for me that was made as close as possible to Andre Roubo’s instructions. Ross is quite familiar with Roubo, but I sent him a translation of the Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/straight-from-the-frenchmans-mouth/feed 17 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/good-wood-species-for-tool-chests http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/good-wood-species-for-tool-chests#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:58:02 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=133181
I’ve seen a lot of vintage tool chests in my travels, and most of them have been made of pine. What kind of pine? Hard to say. Most pines look the same when they are covered in paint, dirt, grease and what looks like monkey dung. But pine is not the only wood appropriate for Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/good-wood-species-for-tool-chests/feed 17 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/hardware-for-the-campaign-chest-%e2%80%93-complete http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/hardware-for-the-campaign-chest-%e2%80%93-complete#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:53:51 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=128731
After much searching, purchasing and examination I settled on a suite of hardware for the Campaign Chest I’m building for Popular Woodworking Magazine. The hardware arrived this week, and I could not be more pleased. While hardware is always one of the most important aspects to a piece of furniture, it is even more critical Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/hardware-for-the-campaign-chest-%e2%80%93-complete/feed 5 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/confession-redemption http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/confession-redemption#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:15:03 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=128541
I have a palm-grip random-orbit sander that I’ve used for many years on household projects that could not be planed because they were too big, such as 16’-long runs of base moulding nailed to a wall,  or weren’t designed for handplaning, such as plywood that is covered in paper-thin veneer. A couple years ago, the Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/confession-redemption/feed 9 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/rethinking-graduated-drawers http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/rethinking-graduated-drawers#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:37:26 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=128221
When it comes to building chests of drawers, most examples I’ve seen since the 18th century and later have drawers that graduate from top to bottom. Bigger drawers at the bottom; smaller drawers at the top. This arrangement wasn’t always the case: 17th-century chests of drawers would commonly alternate shallow and deep drawers – deep, Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/rethinking-graduated-drawers/feed 7 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-slightly-fancier-tool-chest http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-slightly-fancier-tool-chest#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:01:01 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=127741
I examined lots of tool chests when researching “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” and found that their designs fell into two broad categories: 1. The plain and simple pine boxes with trays. 2. The pre-industrial monster truck chest with scantily clad tarts, parquetry, secret compartments and a bottle opener. You don’t see a lot of chests Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/a-slightly-fancier-tool-chest/feed 8 http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/tweaking-an-over-set-coping-saw http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/tweaking-an-over-set-coping-saw#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:59:43 +0000 Christopher Schwarz http://www.popularwoodworking.com/?p=126911
When cutting dovetails, I’ve always cleared out most of the waste with a coping saw. Why? I learned it that way in 1993 and am faster with the coping saw than I am with a chisel. Even though I’ve been dovetailing for almost 20 years, I’m always looking for small things to improve my speed Continue reading»]]> http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/tweaking-an-over-set-coping-saw/feed 8