Tools

If you had only one bench plane, it would be nice if that plane could do both roughing and smoothing chores. Woodworker John Wilson tackled that problem in our April...

I love “before” and “after” photos of things. This week I picked up a nice 3/16” side-bead plane from Josh Clark (aka Hyperkitten). The tool is a gem. The boxing...

Here’s a dirty little secret about pinners and brad nailers. Norm Abram isn’t the only woodworker to use them. Many of the guys I know who build reproduction furniture –...

Getting the four feet of a sawbench, chair or stool all in the same plane is a challenge for some woodworkers. You can end up nibbling a bar stool into...

One of my goals in this job has been to help produce a saw sharpening video that makes sense of all the dogma about this simple task. Should you set...

When I’m trying to explain why I like hand tools to a hostile crowd – usually at a woodworking show – I like to pull out a Record 043 plow...

The only complaint I every hear about the Veritas bevel-up planes is that the rear tote isn’t as comfortable as that on an old Stanley or new Lie-Nielsen plane. If...

I finished setting up the eight new Stanley chisels this morning and will put them to work on some dovetails on Thursday morning. After re-grinding the three chisels that had...

One of the occupational hazards of my job isn’t working with tools, it’s writing about them. Here’s an example: I’ve been working on an article for our June 2011 issue...

I finally found the time (it was between the couch cushions) to set up the new Stanley socket chisels. I’m working on the backs today, and here’s the news so...

I just received my advance copy of Jim Tolpin’s new book, The New Traditional Woodworker, and even though I was very involved with putting the book together, it’s always a...

Many woodworkers fear the act of grinding. And “fear” might be too kind a word. I’ve had several woodworkers send me tools to grind for them (please don’t do this)....