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Too many times we look for complex solutions when the answer is right in front of our eyes. This is an old trick, but a good one – drilling pilot holes for nails using the nail itself. It works [...]

Apply layers of milk paint to add depth and contrast to your work. A visitor asked, “Paint over wood? Aren’t you obscuring wood’s natural beauty?” There are two assumptions behind these [...]

Here is a handy, inexpensive way to organize your shop screws and other small bits of hardware. I cut an old section of black PVC pipe lengthwise down the middle, then into sections to fit my [...]

Many new chisels, especially most premium-quality chisels, have sharp lands (the beveled side edges). Some people wear cotton gloves to protect their hands when using these, but I don’t like the [...]

Christmas, 1956. I was a little fella, and my seeing the Tonka Hi-Way series display in the W.T. Grant store months earlier had captured my entire attention. In my letter to Santa, I asked for [...]

On my best work, I want the bottom of my project to look as good as the top. That’s when I make an old-fashioned set of wooden tabletop fasteners, or “buttons,” rather than use the modern [...]

I made this adapter to hook up dust collection to the odd-size fitting (2″) on my oscillating sander. Start with a hardwood block that is (in my case) is 3″ x 4″ x 1 1⁄4” [...]

Tool: Contour Sander Manufacturer: Arbortech MSRP: $79 I’ve been building a stacked-lamination piece with plenty of concave and convex curves that require a good deal of sanding. Arbortech’s new [...]

Lessons from a big box guide my approach to woodworking. I love Ikea. Yes, I said it. This store has provided me with an understanding of furniture design and with products I use on many of my [...]

A gnarly old conifer finds new life on a recognized California estate. In 1908, architects Charles and Henry Greene built one of their most famous residences, the Robert R. Blacker House. In [...]

It’s time to give every Dad his due with nearly a month full of top-flight woodworking prizes. From May 28 through June 21 (Father’s Day), Popular Woodworking and its sponsors are giving away a [...]

Article sponsored by Woodpeckers. Working with plywood is always an adventure. The large size of the sheets isn’t easy to handle in my small shop. This means that I’m often left wrestling these [...]