Williamsburg's conference

Each year, I look forward to attending the “Working Wood in the 18th century” conference at Colonial Williamsburg. It’s a chance to spend a few boys’ nights out with my...

Make your magazine come to life

I’ve had a few occasions to speak to woodworking groups. Each time, I’ve asked myself how I could make the audience’s experience great. Being brutally honest, print is probably a...

Exploring hand tools

I’m personally gratified by the amount of progress I see in woodworking today. When the author of “Table Saw Magic” (really? magic?) says to me with a gleam in his...

Arts & Mysteries on CD

PW has published a compilation of my column to date and added some great Schwarz content to round it out narratively. What you get is a cd that works a...

Sharpening etiquette help needed

Last time I visited Kelly Mehler’s school, I admired the fine sharpening set-up he had. People who are serious about woodworking have permanent sharpening stations, and Kelly’s is top [...]

Practice makes….?

In anticipation of making this chair, I carved several ball and claw feet and several full legs, including one with the knee returns attached. I’m a firm believer in practice....

If it ain't baroque…

I’ve learned alot about baroque carving making this chair. Yes, yes, I know this is a Rococo carving and Rococo is different from Baroque. But I yes, it’s the baroque...

Enjoying woodworking

I skipped Pennsbury yesterday and spent the day carving instead. When I began my Chippendale chair project, I under estimated how much I would enjoy carving. Sounds a little funny...

Sam Maloof, woodworker

Maloof rocker, courtesy of Wikipedia As I am sure you know, our community is marking the passing of Sam Maloof. We are lesser for the loss of this iconic woodworker....

Safety Tips from A&M readers

I may be biased, but I think the folks who read and comment on the Arts & Mysteries blog are some of the smartest folks on the internet. I read...

Ergonomics

When you push a plane, you are exerting a force down, against the bench and forward against the stop. We build our workbenches to react these forces. But those forces...

Edge Tool Safety

The number one rule about edge tool safety is: Always keep both hands behind the cutting edge of your tool. This rule is absolute, and if you follow it absolutely,...