Instead of writing about the flatness of plane soles, perhaps I should talk about something less controversial, such as religion or politics. When purchasing a vintage plane, the flatness of the [...]
Cincinnati is not a tourist destination like nearby Big Bone Lick, Ky., So when people come to visit our shop I try to accommodate all their requests so they consider their journey to [...]
Whenever I teach a class on handplanes, I’m amazed at what the students bring to set up and use. I’ve seen Holtey planes and Harbor Freight planes in the same class. And there’s [...]
Sometimes it seems like there are 100 things that can go wrong with a handplane before it will do one thing right: Eject a perfect and fluffy shaving. Lately I’ve been using a lot of [...]
Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me knows that I am obsessed with food , almost as much as I’m obsessed with woodworking. Both of my parents cook (my mom has run a number of [...]
The vintage Stanley No. 48 plane was one of the most gizmo-tastic planes in the company’s arsenal. It’s a single tool that can cut both the tongue and the mating groove. All you have [...]
If you have been putting off buying an insert from toolmaker Paul Hamler that converts a bench plane to a scraper plane, you might want to start checking your couch cushions for change. Hamler [...]
As a 4-year-old, the woods behind my grandparents’ house in Bronxville, N.Y., was both foreboding and magical to me. My grandfather would take me for walks there almost every day during the [...]
If only we had 1,000 more teachers like Trevor Smith, I think the future of woodworking would be safe and sound. Smith, a physics teacher at Troy High School in Michigan and an avid woodworker, [...]
Today we glued up two chunks of what will become Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick’s workbench. For those of you just tuning in, I haven’t broken my vow of workbench chastity. The [...]
The most miserable aspect of hand work is setting up the tools for the first time. Removing the coarse manufacturing scratches from the unbeveled faces of your edge tools can be grueling, boring [...]
Many woodworkers think that the ability to design a beautiful piece of furniture from scratch is a God-given talent. Either you have the knack or you should just make knock-offs. I’m here [...]