Archives

If a workbench or a tool chest is on your list of woodworking projects to build this year, you’ll definitely want to read on about two upcoming DVDs I’m working on with Popular Woodworking [...]

Sometimes it’s not you. Sometimes, it is the tool that is causing the problem – especially if we are talking about burnishers. The following scene has been repeated so many times during the last [...]

Three of the enemies in my shop are rust, zinc coating and black oxide. 1. Rust: No explanation needed. Rust is the enemy of steel, and steel is what allows us to tame wood. 2. Zinc coating: Many [...]

This week I’m building a pair of portable workbenches for an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine and spent yesterday turning lots and lots of threads for the vise and for the garbage [...]

OK, so let’s say you are too cheap to purchase a blacksmith-made lock for your next tool chest or blanket chest. Wait, that wasn’t very kind of me to call you “cheap.” Instead, let’s put it this [...]

I can see the headlines now: “Schwarz Loves Nazi Buttocks.” Oh well, it has been worse than that lately. An astute reader – Mark Firley – was doing some deeper research on the Moravian-style [...]

Here’s a tip from Tim Henricksen, a fellow woodworker who has been building some six-board chests with me as I research this important early form of furniture. One of the trickiest things to do [...]

While I love printed magazines and books, I am a huge fan of electronic books and magazines – especially when doing research on a project or technique. Plus, pdfs allow me to carry an entire [...]

As patternmakers are the Jedi Knights of the woodworking world, their workbenches are always a little different. Usually you’ll find some sort of vise that has more adjustments than usual. A [...]

While I was on staff at Popular Woodworking Magazine, all of the editors had to read through all of the reader submissions to “Tricks of the Trade.” This was generally drudgery that was [...]

It’s difficult to have a serious conversation about the American Arts & Crafts movement without using the “S” word – Stickley, of course. The iconic, rectilinear and medieval forms of [...]

I bought a box of 1,600 pneumatic nails about two presidential administrations ago that cost about a half penny each (yes, I know I overpaid). So why in the world would I buy a box of 40 nails [...]