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When a workbench leaves a workshop, the results can be sad. I’ve seen perfectly good workbenches transformed into plant stands in a hallway. I’ve seen them as displays for pottery....

A few years ago I was teaching a class on handplanes when one of the students came up to my bench to ask a favor. One of the main reasons...

Getting large, heavy things into the shop can be quite a challenge. While we have a loading dock just through the back shop doors (the “barn doors” featured on many...

For the Lie-Nielsen fan who has everything, you might consider getting a Lie-Nielsen tattoo for the arm that pushes your bronze and ductile iron beauties. Casual Lie-Nielsen fans can purchase...

You can do fancy things with a hammer and the right nails. And lately, I’ve been doing a lot of practicing with cut nails for a series of projects I’m...

Reader James Carpenter is trying to put together a list of tools to purchase as a gift for his 6-year-old nephew. Man I wish I’d had an uncle like him....

I’ve had a vintage panel gauge for many years, and I’ve hated every minute of our relationship. The beam flops around in the head, no matter how Conan you go...

I cannot imagine the number of mortise-and-tenon joints I’ve cut throughout the years. One of the pieces of furniture I’ve built numerous times, a Shaker Sewing Desk, has 55 of...

Publisher Steve Shanesy recently had the good fortune to tour a private collection of museum-quality Ming Dynasty furniture and artwork, and even got to pick up some up some of...

This circa 1670 joint stool is from Wallace Nutting’s “Furniture Treasury.” I’ve been reading a bit of Shakespeare lately (everyone should have a hobby, no?), and in [...]

Woodworking can be a wasteful process. If you cut down a tree for lumber, most of the it ends up on the forest floor or in a wood chipper. Less...

Plastic mallets can be highly durable, but they always look like plastic. Wooden mallets look great, but they sure get beat up after a few years of use. Now Dave...