Techniques

  If you’re unhappy with how your stained finish is turning out, the problem might be in the way that you’re sanding. Follow these tips and you’ll be good as gold! Go E-Z [...]

Wagner Meters recently announced a new webinar that explores the “What, Why, and How of Wood Moisture Testing”. In just an hour you’ll learn how to prevent moisture-related problems in [...]

Bob Flexner walks you through all the steps in repairing an antique factory-made chair that is glued with animal hide glue.

Finding and restoring vintage shop machinery. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking You pick up an old handplane at the local flea [...]

Did you know that feeler fauges are not just for machinists or for checking and adjusting our steel and cast iron woodworking equipment? How do I know this? Because I recently found out that a [...]

Select a reliable tool with these simple tests. I can’t think of one project I’ve made that hasn’t involved using one or more of my combination squares. I use these to lay out joints and cuts, [...]

This jig helps you easily reverse your work for base turning. Properly finished bowls never reveal how the turner mounted them. However, traditional methods for reversing a bowl to turn the base [...]

Methods that allow wood to move with the seasons. About a decade ago, I made a drop-leaf table for a book of projects. When it came time to mount the top, I just drilled pilot holes and drove cut [...]

Hand-cut appearance with half the fuss. If you’ve labored over hand-cut through dovetails, you’ll be amazed how much faster they can be cut on the bandsaw. You get all the benefits, including [...]

While we lust for a 20″ monster, most woodworkers would be just as well off (or better) with a ‘suitcase planer.’ When I started woodworking in about 1993, I wanted two things: a table saw [...]

Is it necessary? And if so, what are the best techniques? Like any tool or machine, a workbench requires accessories (jigs, fixtures, appliances) and occasional maintenance to actually do [...]

When I need to cut a bunch of small, equally sized pieces, I install this simple jig. It holds short pieces securely during and after cutting, so they don’t get caught by the blade and thrown [...]