Techniques

Right in the thick of Woodworking in America – somewhere between duck fat fries and falling asleep in a puddle of what I hope was my drool – Mark Harrell of Bad Axe Tool Works put a saw down on [...]

When your handplane won’t create a perfect surface, there are several things to check. Here’s how I diagnose the problem when it looks like I’m making plane tracks in my work. [...]

If you use saws powered by meat and muscle, you need a pair of sawbenches. Both you and the saw work a lot better when your work rests on these kneecap-high platforms. For the last five years [...]

Before After When setting up bench planes, the enemy is plane tracks – the ugly step created on a board when one (or both) of the corners of the tool’s cutter digs into your work. In my [...]

General Tools recently announced the release of the E…

The Painter's Pyramid is a useful tool that securely elevates your project off the work surface. It means you can finish most or all of a workpiece without waiting for parts to dry. Better [...]

I make lots of pencil marks on the wood as I work. Removing them is either easy or excruciating. Whenever I can, I use a handplane to dress my stock, so the pencil marks usually come off without [...]

One of the unsung heroes of our Woodworking in America conference is Mike Siemsen. Mike is an accomplished woodworker and teacher from Minnesota, and his enthusiasm is unmatched. He runs the Hand [...]

I can be a bit obsessive-compulsive at times. And woodworking sure doesn’t help my malady. My family would be much better off if I’d just lick a few light switches or check 63 times [...]

Though I don’t talk much about it here on the blog, one of my long-standing obsessions (aside from my “goat” problem) is with chairmaking. I’ve taken a few classes, built [...]

Wiktor Kuc and I have an unusual relationship. I’ve never met the man, but I send him articles about tools for his web site, WKFineTools.com. And occasionally, out of the blue, he’ll [...]

I’ve used the “ticking stick” method to fit countertops into odd spaces in a home, but I’ve never used it in the workshop. But then Indiana carpenter Carl Bilderback [...]