It was the first idea I pitched to my boss: I’m going to carve a spoon and write about it. Andrew immediately approved, given the perennial popularity of spoon carving and the desire for me to utilize new skills. I quickly got to work, picking up some carving knives and practicing on some green scraps…

  As a material object, a piece of furniture reflects the taste of its designer, the skill of its maker and larger cultural influences. For example, Shaker furniture shows the elegance of simplicity and the value of using local woods, while Utility furniture derives from post-World-War II scarcity. You don’t need to be a cultural…

Read Part 1 Here After the terraced rhombus was formed, it was time to start coving. The required radius for the coves, as dictated from the original handle was 1”.  But, since the only round plane I have produces a cove of about 1-1/2”, I had to also rely on gouges, a 1” radius scraper and…

Read Part 2 Here The dresser A few months ago I received an email form a person who wanted to know if I could build two walnut handles for a Mid-Century walnut dresser that she cherished. She reported that she and her husband purchased the piece 48 years ago when they got married and that it…

The difference between school and real life is that in real life the tests come first and then the lessons. This is especially true of woodworking; you never know how far you should take one step of a project until you are knee-deep in the next step. That’s when you realize you didn’t fuss enough…

You need to watch this video that was just released from the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. It centers on the founder of the school, Peter Korn, but it really talks about why people make furniture. You’ll see some familiar names from the pages of woodworking magazines, and it’s filled with beautiful shots of workshops and…

Part of the unexpected interactions that stem from having an online column in a woodworking magazine is that, on occasion, a distributor or maker of craft/woodworking related tools or supplies will approach me and propose to send an item for review.  Two months ago, Brightech, a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing magnifying lamps…

Yoav Liberman and his student Lisa put the finishing touches on a unique live edge desk.