Sawing Franco-Prussian Style

Ripping boards by hand is a lot like working. And so I’m always looking for different techniques (other than buying a Bowflex machine and steroids) to do it with less effort. This weekend I [...]

Eye Candy: Half-blind Dovetails in 6:51

Dovetail maestro Rob Cosman again makes us all feel inadequate with his latest video in which he cuts a half-blind dovetail joint in 6 minutes and 52 seconds. Cosman uses Northern white pine, [...]

Millers Falls No. 42 Coping Saw

My search for a coping saw that will hold its blade setting is starting to feel a little like an episode of “In Search of…” with Leonard Nimoy. The solution might be as elusive [...]

Moto-Saw: Now in a New Cordless Model

My co-workers branded me with a nickname in the 1990s after I took apart our shop’s Bosch plunge router and replaced the brushes on its commutator. After reassembling the Bosch and putting [...]

First Look: Popular Woodworking Magazine

Lots of readers have asked what the new magazine will look like when it hits the newsstands in April 2010. Art director Linda Watts has been working hard on the design, and we have been tweaking [...]

From the Island of Misfit Tools

Here in America we will put a motor on just about anything. Picnic tables. Ice cream cones. Scissors. And yet, it was still a surprise when I stumbled on a motorized coping saw for sale on eBay. [...]

Precision Gizmo: Langdon Mitre Boxes

Of all the power tools I own, I think my scariest, oops-I-crapped-my-pants moments have been with a power miter saw. When knocking down rough stock, miter saws have a tendency to [...]

FatMax Coping Saw Update: Grrrr

Before you buy one of the FatMax coping saws that I praised this week, take note. Take apart the saw and examine the blade connectors before you plunk down the $10. Yesterday I received a [...]

Morris Saws and Coping Saws

I never knew how lame my cordless Skil drill was until I used a Makita. With a clutch. And the distinct absence of flames. So these last few weeks I’ve become frustrated and obsessed [...]

Best New Tools 2009

One of the bright spots of an otherwise dismal economic year is that small tool companies have turned out some amazing new products.