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A St. Louis physician spent years assembling the perfect shop. The problem with many “dream shops” is that their visionaries never wake up and get on with building any furniture. There’s nothing [...]

With $100 in lumber and two days, you can build this sturdy stowaway bench. Many knockdown workbenches suffer from unfortunate compromises. Inexpensive commercial benches that can be knocked down [...]

Tool: Stainless Steel Roubo Curves Manufacturer: Sterling Tool Works MSRP: $90 I like using French curves for laying out hyperbolas, ellipses and parabolas when designing furniture details. These [...]

Tool: The Secret Mitre Dovetail Video Manufacturer: Lie Neilson/David Charlesworth  MSRP: $45.00 The “secret miter” dovetail is considered the most elegant and difficult of all the dovetail [...]

Tool: 1/8″ Easy Parting Tool Manufacturer: Easy Wood Tools MSRP: $119.99 Since my first experience with Easy Wood tools in 2011, I’ve been a fan. Thanks to the tools’ long-lasting carbide [...]

Historic proportions and details are still the best. Since I started woodworking in about 1993, I’ve stored my tools in almost every way imaginable – from plastic buckets to wall cabinets, racks [...]

Tool: Diamond Whetstone Honing & Polishing Kit Manufacturer: Trend MSRP: $199.99 To be frank, I’m not a fan of sharpening hand tools using diamond systems because I don’t find the final edge [...]

Once you understand ‘resultant’ angles, sawbenches (and chairs) are easy. Most first-time chairmakers are intimidated by the compound joinery used to fasten all the legs, stretchers, spindles and [...]

Tool: Precision Router Table System Manufacturer: Kreg MSRP: $549.00 Some router tables have gotten so complex and expensive that they actually rival a decent shaper. I’ve always preferred simple [...]

This early form – an aumbry – spawned many different types of furniture. It is easy to forget that many of our favorite pieces of furniture are recent innovations. Forms such as coffee tables, [...]

Tool: Tiger Flakes Manufacturer: Brooklyn Tool & Craft MSRP: $28+ Because shellac is my favorite finish, I have tried nearly every brand of flakes on the market. By far, my favorite brand is [...]

Tool: Rectangular Mallet Manufacturer: Blue Spruce Toolworks MSRP: $85 For some woodworkers, building your own mallet is a rite of passage. After using dozens of student-made mallets, however, I [...]