Required ReadingRSS

Here, you’ll find the blog posts that Christopher Schwarz (former editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine and now a contributing editor), has identified as his favorites (by some mysterious measure) and/or most important. You’ll find woodworking hand tool techniques, videos, a look at some incredible vintage tools, visits with must-know woodworkers, tool reviews, book reviews, articles, musing on old tool patents, free book chapter downloads and more. And some of these are pleasingly controversial or just dang funny – these are absolutely worth a read.

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What Type of Woodworker Are You – Honestly

Years ago I was asked to judge a building contest put on by Bosch that pitted young technical students against one another for a big cash prize and a whole bunch of tools. For the contest, the students were given a plan, some wood, some tools and a certain number of hours to get it … Read more »

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Psst, Hey Troublemaker. Wanna Buy a Book?

I am pleased to announce that ShopWoodworking.com now sells “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” a book that took me two years to write. And the process of writing this book so changed my perspective on the world that I stepped down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The book has its critics, and I imagine you’ll … Read more »

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Time to Grow Up

“Now,” said John, “we will put the work away for today.” “Why, I am not tired,” said Benny. “Neither am I,” said John; “but uncle Edward said, that, if we meant to make a good job of it, we must always leave off our work before we began to get tired.” This was excellent advice; … Read more »

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Finishing for the Rest of Us

Here’s some tough love: Most good woodworkers are terrible finishers. I know this because I have seen hundreds – probably thousands – of pieces of furniture that have been entered in competitions or in juried shows during the last 15 years. And while the design, wood selection and joinery might be excellent, the finish is … Read more »

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Roy Underhill’s 3 Favorite Books

In the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine we have a fun article that lists all of the woodworking books that the magazine’s staff consider to be “classics.” It’s a great list, but the best part of the article is that we went to many of our contributors and asked them which books they … Read more »

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A Gift for My Successor

In 2006 a reader sent me a little spiral-bound black book that was filled with handwritten notecards. Graphs. Equations. Photos. It was a carefully assembled list of all my mistakes and misdeeds during the previous decade. It called me out as a fake – someone who doesn’t understand woodworking or handwork or editing a magazine. … Read more »

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Significant Staff Changes at Popular Woodworking Magazine

Note: This is a longer message than we usually post here on the blog and is in two parts. First, a message from Steve Shanesy, the publisher and leader of our woodworking community at F+W Media. Then a message from Editor Christopher Schwarz. Heading Back into the Front Lines of Writing Nearly 17 years ago … Read more »