Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at Italian art circa 1300,  a Gibson guitar factory circa 1967, and a Makita compact blower circa 2025. Tool News Quick Bites Makita Releases New Compact Blower: This one slipped by me…

Family-run, from one generation to another. There’s been a changing of the guard at Grizzly Industrial. Shabir Balolia — son of company founder Shiraz Balolia — has been named president. For any other major manufacturer, this might be interesting but somewhat ordinary news.  Companies like DeWalt, Delta, Black & Decker change company leadership and even ownership all the time. But…

Rob Petrie chats with Dorian Bracht, author of the book Japanese Joinery, a self-proclaimed joinery fetishist, and furniture designer from Berlin. For more information on Dorian’s book: click here. Find all of the ShopNotes podcast episodes here.

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at a shop class survivor, a new hack from Reddit, and the latest Dewalt drill. Tool News Quick Bites Dewalt Launches 20V Multi-Head Drill Driver: While I try to avoid naming favorite…

That little hand blower I talked about recently has become a constant companion. It hasn’t replaced my air compressor, though, because there are still two important things it does that the hand blower can’t. The first, obviously, is run pneumatic tools. Although to be honest, my cordless tools are rapidly taking over that job. The other is being…

Welcome to Episode 235 of the ShopNotes Podcast! We’re kicking things off with your comments and questions — or as we like to call it, “Questions & Response.” It’s all about shared ideas, not perfect answers. Design Dilemma: A listener sent us a photo of a gorgeous walnut board with some eye-catching figure. What would…

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at furniture from David Lynch, a very odd chest, and a new workbench from Adam Savage. Tool News Quick Bites Bosch Announces a Whole Lot of Stuff: Not much woodworking-related tool news…

Lasers can be both woodworking and metalworking tools. I got my laser engraver/cutters primarily to work wood and consider them woodworking tools first and foremost. But woodwork is supported by metalwork all the time — nails, screws, hinges, handles, brackets, plates and all the other hardware needed for woodworking generally require separate tools and talents…

On this week’s episode of the ShopNotes Podcast, Phil, Logan, and John are talking about woodworking, a check-in on Logan’s church door project, a look into the future of tool making, and of course, some listener comments. Find all of the ShopNotes podcast episodes here.