Read part 1 here. While thinking about ways to manufacture the butter knives fast and efficiently, and also to maximize the use of wood and avoid waste as much as possible, I came up with a layout configuration that nested the knives together compactly. Each knife’s blade was tucked between the handles of its adjacent…

The next time you use your jigsaw, forget about hauling out the sawhorses or cantilevering a hard-to-hold workpiece off your bench. Extruded polystyrene insulation board, the rigid pink sheets used in housing construction, makes sawing easy, whether you’re cutting a small piece of hardwood or a full sheet of plywood. During the cut, the workpiece…

Turning the body is half the fun. When I picked up Silvio Calabi’s book Antique Fishing Tackle, my interests in fishing, antiques, and wood turning met head on: Now I’m hooked on making wooden fishing lures. I know this passion is somewhat irrational, because plastic lures are abundant and economical—and they catch fish. I make…

Tool: Small Scraping Plane Buy Now  Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $139 Sometimes a wood’s grain direction is so unruly that planing just gets you in trouble–tearout is inevitable. Faced with this situation, the hand tool to pick up is a scraper. A card scraper is fine for small areas, but to avoid ripples or hollows, you’re better off…

Board-Stretching Joint I bought a planer/molder so I could make my own moldings. My living room required one 28‘.-long molding, but all I had to make it were 12‘. boards. I didn’t want to settle for separate 12‘. molding sections mitered during installation. I wanted this molding to be one continuous piece. Joining the boards…

This versatile hand tool should be every woodworker’s first plane purchase. As a “professional woodworker” I often get asked what’s the best bang-for-the-buck tool by people getting into this craft. My response is always to ask if they have a good quality block plane. I know, it’s not the big, awesome aircraft carrier-like jointer plane….

Tool: Professional Router Table Package Buy Now  Manufacturer: Infinity MSRP: $1074.40  Tricked Out Router Table Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to use a variety of router tables, ranging from shop-made versions to high-end tables from top manufacturers. When Infinity announced they were releasing a new professional router table, I wanted to get a hold of…

Lightweight, folding and portable, this chair is so simple to make you’ll want a pair – or more.  I’ve always disliked the Adirondack chair and have never understood its popularity. I find it uncomfortable because the human frame does not bend at right angles and also, because it neither folds nor stacks, it’s an awkward…

This mobile, folding table base provides a huge work area, holds a ton and folds up to only 7 in. thick.

In between the many different projects April has going, we were able to ask her (via email) a bit about Assembly Required, a new TV show premiering on the History Channel tonight. In addition to April, the show stars legendary TV tool guys Tim Allen and Richard Karn. Tell us about the show. We filmed…

Tool: Crosscut Station Buy Now  Manufacturer: Kreg MSRP: $59.99 It can be tricky to do precision work with a standard circular saw, which is why it’s usually relegated to breaking down material before you do the detail work with other machines in the shop. But it’s often one of the first tools a DIYer purchases because it’s…

My first time teaching woodworking to a group of toddlers took place almost two years ago. This opportunity to introduce the craft of wood to what is by far the youngest crowd I have ever taught was in my son’s pre-school class. If you’re the parent of a child who plows through the American school…

Ordinary paraffin canning wax has dozens of uses in my shop. It’s cheap at a few bucks a pound, available at any grocery store, and easy to cut into small chunks. Unlike candle wax, which often contains beeswax, or some spray lubricants, which may have silicone in them, paraffin won’t contaminate oil and varnish finishes…

This classic design is at home in settings both rustic and modern. PROJECT #2007 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 4 days • Cost: $500 My home is a 150-year-old farmhouse situated in the middle of Cincinnati, Ohio. When it came time to tackle the renovation of the dining room, we decided on a dining…

Tool: TID 18 impact driver Buy Now T18+3-E drill/driver Buy Now  Manufacturer: Festool MSRP: Starting at $199 for bare tool Premium Impact Driver and Drill Like all power tool companies, Festool is continuing to improve its battery technology and how it pairs with the tools these batteries are powering. You can see (and feel) the fruits of this…