One of the biggest struggles with learning hand tools is finding instructions that make sense. Many modern hand tool teachers have taught themselves to saw, plane and chop. And while their [...]
Without fail, every week readers ask me where to get their saws sharpened. I’ve run into some great saw sharpeners in my day, and I’m always happy to recommend their services. Today [...]
Ever since we published plans for the Holtzapffel Cabinetmaker’s Workbench in Issue 8 of Woodworking Magazine, readers have requested information on how to build the bench so it could be [...]
Stanley Works will unveil a new premium bevel-edge chisel this year that bears some similarities to the company’s vaunted Everlasting line of chisels that were made between 1911 and 1942. [...]
This year I’ve taught a lot of people to saw by hand during woodworking classes, shows, seminars and club meetings. Here’s what I’ve found: People struggle when starting a cut [...]
The funny thing about teaching a woodworking class is that I always come away learning a few things, about woodworking and about other woodworkers. I left Berea late Saturday afternoon, and the [...]
I don’t know if it’s my upbringing or some sort of deep-South formality that was transmitted to me via a Sonic cherry lime-aid, but I always wear a collard shirt when I work or [...]
This is my favorite picture of the ones I’ve taken while documenting the class. Here we’re routing out the cavities for the bolts that hold the workbench bases together. When [...]
I’ve taught eight woodworking classes this year, and I can tell you that every class has a Wednesday. This is the day when you work your hinder off (my hinder is long gone; ask my wife) and [...]
Have you ever been part of a lynch mob? Me neither. But I got a little taste of that today as we finished gluing up our workbench tops for the class I’m teaching at Kelly Mehler’s [...]
Woodworking is a solitary pursuit. Even at our shop at the magazine, it’s unusual for a couple of us to get together to work on something in the shop. Usually, desperation has to be heavy [...]
Kelly Mehler and I both live in Kentucky, but his Kentucky is far different than mine. Tonight I packed up my truck in Ft. Mitchell , a suburb of Cincinnati , and made the 100-mile trek from the [...]