Bottoms-Up Glue Cup
Whenever I need a small amount of glue, I reach for a paper cup. And since I visit the neighborhood coffee shop every morning, I always have a supply of used cups! But instead of filling the cup [...]
Vacuum Glue into a Crack
Last fall while moving into a new house, I dropped my kitchen table off the back of my pickup truck. The solid oak top suffered a serious crack near one corner. [...]
Power-Grip Clamp Handle
I love adjustable clamps, but I used to have trouble gripping and tightening the handles, especially at the end of a long day. Glued-on pieces of drawer liner ($5 per roll at most home centers) [...]
Deep-Reach Handscrew
Recently, a friend asked me to reglue the buckled veneer in a tabletop. The problem was located too far from the edge to clamp with my longest handscrew, so I added wooden fingers to nearly [...]
Easy-Grip Handles
After 37 years of pushing pencils and typing on a keyboard at the office, my grip is not what it used to be. So I found an easy way to get a powerful yet comfortable grip on my clamp …
Instant Wheel-Dresser Support
I use my grinder almost exclusively for beveling my chisels, so I like to keep the tool rest set to produce the 25-degree bevel I prefer. Having to reset the angle after using my diamond wheel [...]
Tidy Stripping
When stripping a chair or table, place each leg in a coffee can. Any excess stripper drips right in, and when you take off the finish, you can simply push your scraper down the length of the leg. [...]
Jim Tolpin’s Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabinetmaker
Jim Tolpin's Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabinetmaker will teach you all you need to know about starting your own professional woodworking shop. If you are already a professional [...]
The Season of Loose Nuts
You know that winter has arrived when every handsaw you pick up has loose sawnuts. This week I’ve been doing a bit of sawing to prepare to talk to the Woodworkers of Central Ohio on [...]
Learn Handplanes with Thomas Lie-Nielsen and Christopher Schwarz
There are still some spots available in the class on handplanes that Thomas Lie-Nielsen and I are teaching in April at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. This is the only class I am teaching [...]
How to Close the Throat of a Lie-Nielsen Router Plane
Last week I compared the Lie-Nielsen and Veritas small router planes and concluded that I really would like a Lie-Nielsen with a closed throat. So, of course, a reader showed me how it can be [...]
Chisel Planes: The Bacon Saver?
The first time I saw a chisel plane was at an antique market in Kentucky. It was sitting out on a table with a bunch of common planes. Every person who walked up to the table picked it up to …
