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Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in American Woodwork #142, June/July 2009. I stumbled onto pen making seven years ago, as I was scouring through my husband Jerry’s [...]

Crawling around under the basement stairs to find what may or may not be in this box or that was a pain. However, leaving the space empty was not an...

Tool: Paralign Single Featherboard Shop Now and Paralign Double Featherboard Shop Now Manufacturer: JessEm MSRP: $27.99 & $48.99 At first glance, JessEm’s Paralign Featherboard might look [...]

To set the height of a router bit—within .001″, if necessary—I made this simple stand for my caliper. It works on a router table or a hand-held router. Two screws...

Bee Gone  So, I’m using a wire brush chucked in a drill to clean the rust off of some old metal brackets that I’m planning to use in my new...

Who says you can’t put a square peg in a round hole?  My scrap bin is made from round cardboard tubes made for concrete forms. These tubes are available at...

Tool: 5-in-1 Combination Protractor Shop Now  Manufacturer: Starrett MSRP: $142 If walls were all exactly 90 degrees, installing cabinets and trim would be a lot easier. When it comes to...

Rear Ended After cutting a piece of wood with my ancient radial arm saw, I turned to retrieve the pencil that I’d used to mark the cut—the saw’s vibration had...

For accurate drilling, build an engineered table. Did you know that most drill press tables are made for metalworking? Woodworkers need a better table: it should have a broad surface,...

FRAMED The old family photograph that needed a new frame was an odd size, 10-5/8 in. by 11-3/8 in., so I knew I couldn’t buy a frame to fit. Starting...

My grandfather made this foot-powered jigsaw during World War II. The Depression had taught him to be very frugal, so he built the saw from orange and grapefruit crates, which...

Blowin’ in the Wind My wife and I ran out of plywood as we were adding shelves to the garage, so we headed to the home center for another sheet....