How to Keep Kids From Wasting Sandpaper – Part 2
Two years ago, I built a jig to help me cut sandpaper sheets into a few different practical sizes for our classroom. The sizes that we use are eighths, quarters...
How to Keep Kids From Wasting Sandpaper – Part 1
It seems that no other shop resource is treated with such obliviousness as sandpaper. Although sandpaper is responsible for the last steps of shaping much of our work, it doesn’t...
How to Increase the Holding Power of a Square
Anyone who has introduced a square to young students or beginner woodworkers knows the challenges of teaching them how to control the tool and maintain it square to the edge...
Joseph Walsh: Genius Furniture Maker and Artist, Now on Display in New York City – Part 2
One of the most impressive pieces of furniture in the show (read part one of my story here) is a tall, pod-like cabinet that was commissioned by a wrist-watch collector....
Joseph Walsh: Genius Furniture Maker and Artist, Now on Display in New York City – Part 1
I can promise your jaw will drop when you see the poetic works of Joseph Walsh in person. Walsh is an Irish genius who runs a spectacular creative furniture and sculptural studio from...
Sand-Shaded Parquetry Door
My very talented friend, Jack Mauch, just completed a great looking door made of many segments of veneer quilted together to create a clever geometric pattern (aka parquetry). Each of...
A Visit to a Furniture Restoration Shop in Tel Aviv: Part 2
As I mentioned in the first part of the story, Shay likes to frequent the Jaffa flea markets to look for all kinds of goodies. In fact, many of the...
A Visit to a Furniture Restoration Shop in Tel Aviv: Part 1
Shay Avrahami opened his Furniture restoration shop in Tel Aviv in the early ’90s, and since then he has steadily established his reputation as one of the best furniture restorers...
Traditional Paint and Glue Store in Israel
While in Tel Aviv last week, I paid a visit to a few of my favorite places – trade stores and friends’ shops that I used to frequent while living in Israel....
Dutch Boxwood Bead Boxes
On my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York I saw, among the monumental and famous pieces, a small item that captured my eye. It...
Surviving U.S.-made Woodworking Clamps & Clamp Care
Responding to my post last week on the demise of woodworking clamps made in the U.S., a few readers pointed out that the well has not completely dried out. Yes,...
Demise of U.S. Clamp Makers & A Defense of Hardware Hoarding
The topics of United States clamp manufacturing and hardware hoarding might seem unrelated, and many of you will certainly think that they deserve two separate entries. In this story, however,...
