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I’m ashamed to say that despite Chippendale’s advice, I know very little about the classical column orders. I know they are used to define ancient architectural styles. I generally [...]

Golden section is the division of a length at which the ratio of the division to the whole is equal to the ratio of the smaller division to the longer....

If you’re interested in reading detailed stories about modern toolmakers, their wares and how they fare in the shop, I have some good news. Clarence Blanchard, the owner of the...

Master Cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) recommended that cabinetmakers learn drafting so that they could “shew…the Conduct and Effect of the Piece.” I haven’t [...]

Side Chair, Philadelphia, c.1750 Philadelphia Museum of Art The axiom “form follows function” guides our designs and our esthetics. I can’t think that there is a woodworker who [...]

Each Holiday season we are blessed, or cursed, with that Hollywood production of Home Alone starring Macaulay Culkin. And each year I wonder why this is an annual presentation. This...

Whenever I build a piece of furniture, I keep a log of the time I spend at each step in construction: 60 minutes to glue the top, 75 minutes to...

If you’re like me, somewhere in your house you have a pile of old magazines. You have to keep them, but they take up space, and when you go to...

We’ve created some nice pdf files that will assist you in building the Creole Table featured in the February 2007 issue of Popular Woodworking. These are the same working files...

Next to my workbench at home, I keep an antique tool chest that has a tricky, sticky and unpredictable lock. Most days, I can open the chest with ease. I...

“I can teach a man to sail but I can never teach him why.” – Timothy E. Thatcher, published in “The American Scholar” The March 2007 issue of Woodworking [...]

A Festool table saw ready for ripping. During the last seven days, I’ve eaten a lot of foreign food, drank a lot of foreign beer and listened to a lot...