Not everything has to have a furniture-grade finish. If you read the woodworking magazines or look online, you often come across instructions for filling pores, glazing, toning, rubbing out, and so on. These are wonderful techniques for use on sophisticated projects such as furniture. But they are often overkill for basic kitchen or bathroom cabinets….

In a search for wide boards, it pays to buy whole logs. Visitors to my shop often ask where I buy the wide, matched cherry and walnut boards I use for reproducing classic American furniture. Their curiosity ratchets up a notch or two when I tell them that I usually buy logs, not boards. “Ervin,…

If you don’t own a big European style table saw or a large miter saw, and need to crosscut wide lumber at 90 degrees you will probably like my newly-built CCS (Cross-Cutting Square). This jig is easy to build and use. You can clamp it to your lumber or hold it down tightly with one…

The best source for learning is right there on your bench. At a seminar I found myself saying that I mostly taught myself woodworking. It was an easy way to get the idea across that I did not go to woodworking school or take seminars. Later, I regretted not responding more thoughtfully. What a pity…

Forget plastic or metal pans – a wooden one looks nicer and works better. Some time during the last 25 years of prowling around workshops, museums and antique stores, I spotted a wooden dustpan. The encounter made me slap my forehead – why do I have a plastic pan when I could build a wooden…

For accurate drilling, build an engineered table. Did you know that most drill press tables are made for metalworking? Woodworkers need a better table: it should have a broad surface, an easily adjustable fence with a stop, hold-downs, and replaceable inserts. I’ve studied many plans for a table with these features, but each one seems…

To build the ultimate jig, use a tap. When I build a jig or fixture that needs to come apart, I don’t use wood screws, I use machine screws–and tap holes in the wood to receive them. It’s very easy to do, and requires only a few special tools. Why do it? Maybe I’m just…

Why stains and finishes sometimes dry slowly. A friend called with a problem. He had applied an ebony oil stain to oak and after the stain had dried for two days, the polyurethane he then brushed picked up some of the color and smeared it around the surface. Was there a problem with the stain,…

I own three bandsaws. Two are hand-me-downs from neighbors and the most recent arrival is a brand new Grizzly 17”  that I bought. The Grizzly is a great machine but like many of its peers, most of the bandsaw adjustment features are controlled by locking socket head cap screw, aka Allen screws. There is nothing…

A swing of an arc is the solution to many layout and construction problems. If you think a compass is only for drawing circles, think again. This simple and inexpensive device can divide almost anything into precise and equal sections, construct complex polygons and find the precise settings for making miters on any angle. Most…

The truth behind craters and ridges. If your finishing career has been limited to finishing projects you have made, you may never have experienced fish eye. But if you have done much refinishing, especially of furniture, you have surely seen fish eye. Fish eye is the finish crawling up to form moon-like craters or ridges…

As much as this piece is a homage to Shaker design, it is also quietly a love letter to both hand tools and shared shops. Project #2113 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 10 • Days Cost: $500 Online extras: Glue-Up Tips for The Shaker Sewing Table • Cutlist and Layout PDF I work in…

Related: Shaker-Inspired Sewing Counter Shaker Sewing Counter: Glue-Up Tips  The glue-up for case pieces is ALWAYS a little nerve-wracking and though this particular Shaker-style Sewing cabinet is no less daunting given its frame-and-panel construction, following these tips can make everything a breeze:  TIP #1:  Pre-Finish Before Glue-up = Massive Headache Avoided     First, you’ll want to save yourself the headache of cleaning glue out…

Research gives names to unknown artisans. David Rowley, Freegift Wells, Amos Stewart, Orren Haskens, Eli Kidder…ever hear of these guys? They were Shaker cabinetmakers, the names behind one of the most unified and influential movements in American furnituremaking. You might think that they would have been completely anonymous, like most woodworkers of that era, but…

FRAMED The old family photograph that needed a new frame was an odd size, 10-5/8 in. by 11-3/8 in., so I knew I couldn’t buy a frame to fit. Starting with a length of straight-grained oak, I used a combination of router bits to create a unique profile for a new frame. I sanded, shellacked,…