Shop Blog

How we measure the world around us is a reflection of how our society interacts with the world. To wit: The metric system is, in my opinion, the most efficient...

As a kid I had every manner of toys that allowed me to build stuff, from my grandfather’s set of wooden blocks to Lincoln Logs, LEGO, Spinwelder, Girder and Panel,...

I now have 99.9 percent of the speakers and sessions nailed down (and yes, we actually have a session on nails) for Woodworking in America 2016 (September 16-18 in Greater...

It’s funny how a project idea can come out of left field. I had no long burning plan or urge to make our son Stanley a workbench and give him...

Southern California has the strictest VOC laws in the country. These laws have forced manufacturers to change the ingredients they use in paints and finishes, and even eliminate some –...

Apart from a lack of time, the shop the workbench project is progressing well. The leg frames are glued up and I’m working on the aprons at the moment. On...

I just finished reading an article on filling pores, and it reminded me of several things I’ve been meaning to say. First, filling pores is primarily a refinishing operation because...

So this is clever (and a nice benefit for customers) – Lee Valley announced today a(nother) use for the Veritas Small Plow Plane; a beading blade kit is now available....

Readers of my personal blog know that I’ve run into some unexpected challenges with my little house rehab project: knob-and-tube wiring…and bats. The wiring is now about 80-percent [...]

The frame saw that I devised for my students is, among other things, a great exercise in woodworking joinery. It teaches the student the importance of what I call ‘interdependency’....

You often see cans of solvent finishes, including lacquer, and alkyd and polyurethane varnish, with instructions not to thin them. Manufacturers include these instructions in order to comply with [...]

In two weeks I’m moving to a new workshop (ground-floor storefront, yay!). But last night as I was trying to get to sleep I realized that I wasn’t going to...