What Hand Planes are Good For
The difference between school and real life is that in real life the tests come first and then the lessons. This is especially true of woodworking; you never know how far you should take one step [...]
An Observation on Vintage Handplanes
Note: I started writing this blog entry more than a year ago. I shelved it and have revisited it several times since. Each time, I thought: I don’t need this kind of grief. For whatever reason [...]
The Mistakes of First-time Bench-builders
If you’re about to embark on building your first workbench, you might want to read this blog entry. I expect you to discard every piece of advice in it (most bench-builders do) and build the [...]
Improve Hand Plane Performance
There was a time when nearly even adult male in the United States owned a Stanley #4 smooth plane. The one I have was passed down to me by my dad (a chemical engineer) who got it from his dad …
5 Must-build FREE Project Plans!
When I started work at Popular Woodworking in 1996, the goal was to cram as many projects into each issue as possible. No techniques. No tool reviews. Just 17 to 20 projects. Oh, and we couldn’t [...]
Woodshop Layout – Tour and Tips from Matt’s Basement Workshop
I can’t deny that I’ve always wanted a large woodshop. Patterned after a professional shop, my large woodshop would include: Space for hundreds of board feet of lumber Dedicated [...]
If Cleanliness is Next to Godliness…
If cleanliness is truly next to godliness, then we are lords of the underworld. I took this picture (and shot the video below) whilst standing atop my bench…my bench to which one must take [...]
Maxed Out Midi Lathe
Maxed Out Midi Lathe. General International’s New Variable Speed Maxi-Lathe VS has all the great features that made its predecessor, the General 25-100 so popular. Both machines are made of heavy [...]
Get a Groat in Your Throat
When it comes to pushing our handplanes, I think we are candy-bottomed wussies compared to the joiners of the 17th century. We are obsessed with how thin a shaving we can make. Early joiners, [...]
A Ripping Good Time
If you’re just starting to put together an arsenal of blades for sawing hardwoods, allow me to make a suggestion: Get a rip blade. Sure, a general-purpose blade does a reasonably good job of [...]
Redesigned Planer
Redesigned Planer Delta has just introduced a new 13″ planer, the 22-590. It replaces the 22-580, a model that received top marks in our planer tool test back in 2003. In the years since, [...]
Czeck Edge Goes Carbide
In preparing to review the new Czeck Edge birdcage awl for the February issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (find out how to get the electronic version free by clicking here), I asked Bob [...]
