On this week’s episode of the ShopNotes Podcast, John, Phil, and Logan are talking about this year’s black walnut harvest (the nut, not the wood), possible livestock acquisitions, and maybe if they have time they’ll get to some woodworking and tool talk. Find all of the ShopNotes podcast episodes here.

I use a piece of painter’s tape to mark dadoes when I assemble cabinets. Then I know exactly where to shoot nails or install screws and there aren’t any pencil lines to sand off when I’m finished. I just remove the tape. -Stanley Krasovic

This rolling stand is the perfect mobile workstation. Use it for a computer in your shop or to mount a power tool.  Project #2303 • Skill Level: Beginner • Time: 2 Days • Cost: $120 Over the last few years, I have become interested in CNC. In fact, I recently decided to add a medium sized…

Move beyond a measured drawing and let your imagination reign. My 6-year-old nephew, Ryan, loves to eat cheese puffs and play with Legos. For his birthday, I bought him a set of the colorful plastic bricks to build a Lego attack helicopter, then watched as he meticulously assembled each piece exactly as depicted on the…

Over the last several years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with various people, and sharing their stories through this magazine is one of the things that I genuinely enjoy. For example, I’d like to introduce you to my friend Lupe Nielsen.  I met Lupe through my friend Jimmy Clewes, who you’ve seen…

I felt like I won the storage-space lottery when I came up with this bench design for my shop. I wanted a way to store lumber and my benchtop tools. The backbones of this bench are the 2 x 4 frames. For my 8-ft. bench, I made four frames. The rest of the materials were…

On this week’s episode of the ShopNotes Podcast with John, Logan, and Phil is going to be a random grab-bag of woodworking nonsense. (So basically, we did not do the required reading before the podcast.) Find all of the ShopNotes podcast episodes here.

Sculpting the Tree Branches Part 1: Introduction • Part 2: Push and Peel Knife Maneuvers • Part 3: Parting and Pulling Techniques • Part 4: Rounding the Tree We’ve reached the final stages of the whittling journey – crafting the tree branches. Let’s start by tracing five or more circles around the tree cone. As…

It’s a crate. It’s a cabinet. It’s useful shop furniture. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. One of the enduring features of Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop” PBS television show is the familiar and rambling backdrop of former projects, parts, tools and wood that frames most…

Cutting miters so they are ‘just right’ is a problem faced by all woodworkers. Here’s how to sneak up on the perfect miter with scrap wood and a plane. You find yourself in a quandary. To ensure that you don’t cut a miter too short, you end up cutting it just a bit too long…

Water can cause many problems to finished and unfinished wood. As woodworkers, most of us have come across problems caused by water that we may be asked to repair. The problems can occur in the finish or in the wood if the water gets through the finish. Here are some of the most common problems…

There’s no need to fear the most versatile machine in the modern shop. There are good reasons that the table saw is at the center of many shops. This machine revolutionized the way we make things. And in recent years, it has become the center of controversy on two fronts: safety and accuracy. There is…

When my bench’s tool tray fills up with sawdust and hardware, I’ve found that the easiest way to clean it is to use a vacuum. To keep the hardware from going into the vacuum, I cover its nozzle with a washing machine lint trap. Lint traps are made for washing machine drain hoses and are…

I purchased this classic tool chest at a yard sale in Maine, while on vacation. The case had only two drawers remaining, and no handle. The seller said he had every intention of restoring it, but never got around to it. I bought it for $15 and proudly showed it to my friend Roger, who…

Scientific Name: Quercus rubra Other Common Names: Northern Red Oak Growing Regions: Canada and the United States. Size Characteristics: Grows to 70 feet tall, with a trunk up to 39 inches in diameter. Characteristics of Wood: The sapwood is almost pure white while the heartwood is usually a red-tinged brown. Once the tree has been…

If you use a cyclone dust collector, you’ve no doubt struggled with emptying the barrel. When it’s filled with dust, it’s really heavy, not to mention the face full of dust you get when you dump it out. The answer is to line the barrel with a trash bag; simple, right? Not exactly. See, when…