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Big fat granite surface plates are nice, but they are overkill for most woodworking shops. The granite surface plates are intended for machinists and other metalworkers who work to thousandths...

Recommending chisels for beginners is difficult. Excellent chisels cost money – or a lot of time searching for nice vintage examples and setting them up. Most beginners just want to...

If you build chairs, staked furniture or anything that uses round tenons, this entry is for you. One of the greatest joinery tricks I know of is to cut your...

Last week I discussed the Zona Razor Saw and how it’s the ideal saw for beginning dovetailers. It’s just $12 to $15 and cuts extremely well. This saw got me...

Oh, if only Stanley Toolworks was this awesome all the time. This year, the storied company released a tape measure for its 175th anniversary that is awesome. No, it’s not...

All woodwork involves a little metalwork. Whether you are installing locks that need filing or working with a handplane that needs fettling, you need a good set of needle files....

If you make wooden chairs (I make a lot) you might be missing an important accessory: a sheepskin. During a recent trip to Wales to study the country’s chairs I...

I use a boot tray to hold my sharpening gear. That way I can keep my stones in the tray underneath my bench and then place the tray on the...

One tool that has been in my shop for decades is a little box of single-edge razors that I use as scrapers and – occasionally – as a save-your-butt tool...

Welcome to the latest edition of the Anarchist’s Gift Guide, a yearly thing I do that recommends mostly small, inexpensive and useful shop items. These blog entries are great to...

If you post content on the internet or consume a lot of it, you will encounter wankers of the first order. You already know this. But how should you respond...

There are a lot of companies spending a lot of money to get you to buy their stuff. I suspect you are probably thinking, “Duh, that’s called advertising.” But this...