Techniques

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 [...]

Add a new dimension to your woodworking skills. With the right techniques and tooling your CNC router can mill brass and aluminum with dependability, accuracy and consistency. Milling these [...]

In the proto-CAD (Computer-Aided Design) world, draftsmen and draftswomen had to rely on a set of curvy templates when they needed to connect two or more points via a graceful arc or curve. In [...]

Small pieces transform your work from austere to awesome. Signature features of Federal-style furniture include bellflowers and stringing that often adorn furniture legs, but are also found on [...]

Mechanical solutions for the formula-challenged woodworker. There was a time when I was fairly good at math – but that was back when “personal” and “computer” were two words you’d never expect to [...]

A few years ago I found a broken and grime-covered segment of a slip stone buried in the soil outside our front porch. Thrilled by this unexpected surprise, I immediately decided to restore the [...]

Arm yourself with a good plan (or two) and your buying trip will be a success. I have a 10″-wide piece of 8/4 purpleheart sitting on my lumber rack. I bought it eight years ago when I [...]

Working with these traditional hinges takes a bit of old-fashioned ingenuity. High-quality butt hinges are handsome and durable for furniture and built-in cabinet doors. If you’re in the business [...]

Baffle your friends with perplexing joints Press a dovetailed board into another board with matching sockets, and you’ve created woodworking’s most iconic joint. The dovetails and [...]