Workbenches
The workbench is the most important tool in your shop. We cover workbenches better than anyone because no matter what sort of woodworker you are, a good bench will make you a better one.
[keywords]Workbench Design, Roubo Bench, Nicholson Bench, French Bench, Klausz Bench, Shaker Bench, Face Vise, Shoulder Vise, Tail Vise, End Vise, Holddown, Holdfast, Sliding Deadman, Bench Bolts, Bench Dogs[/keywords]
How Not to Rive Oak
This week I’m cutting a bunch of half-blind dovetails in oak – oak on the pin board and oak on the tail board. This is somewhat trickier than dovetailing softer woods, or when dovetailing a soft wood, which compresses, into a hard wood, which does not. Add to that the fact that oak really likes Continue reading»
Super-simple Support for the Moxon Double-screw
When I built a Moxon double-screw vise last year for sawing and other chores, I tried to keep it as simple and close to the 17th-century original as I could. After building two prototypes, I made it even simpler and easy to build by using 8/4 stock instead of some uber-thick wood. But woodworkers, being Continue reading»
Improved Phil Koontz Holdfasts
It seems I have more holdfasts than internal organs. And yet, when I was dropping something off at Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick’s house this week, I was struck by two holdfasts in her bench that were familiar and yet different – like an old friend who had lost weight or gotten implants. The holdfasts Continue reading»
My Benchcrafted Moxon Vise
Perhaps I should be the last person to buy a Moxon-style vise kit from Benchcrafted. After all, I’ve built six of these highly functional vises for myself and friends – not to mention all the ones I’ve built during classes during 2010. But instead, I was one of the first to line up for the kit Continue reading»
Recovering (and Repairing) After Woodworking in America
I know the exact moment that Roy Underhill cracked my workbench open during Woodworking in America last weekend. There was a disturbance in the Force. In other words, my phone went nuts with people texting me and mentioning the event on Twitter. Those first-hand reports were dire – and wrong. Roy had split the chop Continue reading»
New Workbench from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks
I have always waited for and dreaded the day when someone made a commercial workbench that I would consider buying. That day might (almost) be here. This week I am in Warren, Maine, to shoot a video for Lie-Nielsen Toolworks on building the Shaker side table from the second issue of Woodworking Magazine. I’ve shot Continue reading»
Authentic Holdfasts from Peter Ross
The first time I taught at Roy Underhill’s school in Pittsboro, N.C., Roy made sure that I met Peter Ross, a blacksmith who worked at Colonial Williamsburg for 25 years. We all ate dinner at gas station in Saxapawhaw – probably the best gas station food ever made on this planet. Seriously. Check this out. Continue reading»
