Many woodworkers have mixed feelings about modern design in woodworking. Traditional style plans outsell our modern furniture plans by at least 3:1, and the appearance of modern furniture in our magazine is sporadic at best. Take a look at current home furniture trends though, and modern is all the rage. Whether is Mid-Century Modern, Scandinavian,…

Sometimes a little talking-to (and video surveillance) is all it takes. I have noticed three things about tools and kids. Kids can find tools even if it requires tunneling under the garage wall. Kids can claim complete innocence when asked why tools are missing. Two days after the tools go missing the same kids manage…

Forget the stockpile of wood; what about the stock of partial projects? When building furniture, some woodworkers keep a stockpile of lumber on hand and draw from their stacks as they begin a new project. Others buy enough lumber (with some extra) for each piece they are planning to build, often working from a list…

No sick days, no paid vacations and no IT department – but it’s worth it. Ah, going pro – telling your boss to take your day job and stick it in his ear while you go off to earn your living doing what you love best. There is not a woodworker who, while looking at…

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Welcome to What Really Grinds My Chisels, an occasional feature where the Popular Woodworking editors tackle subjects they feel passionate about. I consider myself a pretty traditional woodworker. I heavily favor hand tools because that’s how I like to work. But, I also realize that there’s a particular part of woodworking that I enjoy, so…

Moby Dick, the Great White Planer The newspaper advertisement was brief: “PLANER, 24″, $450. Call.” My friend Charles Poth and I had been looking for just such a machine. We found the owner’s home outside rural  Jeromesville, Ohio, at the end of a long gravel road. The planer was stored outside under a raggedy canvas…

It’s April, which means April fools (see ours below), spring, and woodworking month. The change in weather means those of us with unheated shops can finally emerge from hibernation and start building again in earnest. For everyone else that means spring gardening, bonfires, and time outside. So this week we’ll have them both meet in…

Talk about a close one… And there you have it folks, our 2022 Tool Madness Champion: The Drill