Techniques

As many of you have noticed, we are making improvements to the way you can view our free SketchUp models at Popular Woodworking Magazine. This feature has been enormously popular and we are [...]

If you had only one bench plane, it would be nice if that plane could do both roughing and smoothing chores. Woodworker John Wilson tackled that problem in our April 2011 issue with his [...]

This is a model of a microadjustable finger joint jig featured in an article in the January 2004 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine. Project design and construction by Nick Engler, SketchUp [...]

I love “before” and “after” photos of things. This week I picked up a nice 3/16” side-bead plane from Josh Clark (aka Hyperkitten). The tool is a gem. The boxing is perfect. The sole is straight. [...]

Getting the four feet of a sawbench, chair or stool all in the same plane is a challenge for some woodworkers. You can end up nibbling a bar stool into an ottoman if you take the wrong approach. [...]

  Oops! Tongues Refuse to Fit Grooves   I made this cool looking door panel by making cove cuts on my tablesaw. Cool looking, yes, but  the tongue profiles swelled right at the [...]

One of my goals in this job has been to help produce a saw sharpening video that makes sense of all the dogma about this simple task. Should you set the teeth before or after you file them? [...]

  Oops! Router Bit Gouges Template   Here's an easy fix if you accidentally gouge your template with a router bit: Repair the damage with auto body filler. Generously apply filler [...]

 Oops! Biscuit Slots Refuse to Align I was cutting slots for a long edge joint the other day, and everything was humming right along. But when I put the boards together, they didn’t line up worth [...]

What makes woodworking fun for me is that I learn something new nearly every day. This past week, Monday was a day filled with learning – I spent the day with Ron Herman as he filmed the [...]

When I’m trying to explain why I like hand tools to a hostile crowd – usually at a woodworking show – I like to pull out a Record 043 plow plane to demonstrate. First, it’s cuter than socks on a [...]

The only complaint I every hear about the Veritas bevel-up planes is that the rear tote isn’t as comfortable as that on an old Stanley or new Lie-Nielsen plane. If you are one of those people who [...]