Tools

Last month I got to visit Roy Underhill’s new school in Pittsboro, N.C. (read about my visit here). One of the coolest parts of the visit was getting to try out his foot-powered table saw [...]

Anyone who has worked with me for about five minutes knows that I really like chamfers on my work. Stop chamfers, such as those found on early English and American work, are particularly [...]

Whenever I demonstrate handsawing, someone usually asks this question: “Should you saw right on the knife line or next to your line?” I answer: “It depends. Usually I split the [...]

When you’re a professional writer, people tend to give you cranky manual typewriters as gifts. They don’t expect you to use them, per se. But they do expect you to display them in [...]

These days investing in premium tools might have less financial risk than the stock market. Just about every week I get an e-mail or phone call from a reader asking me if they think that premium [...]

Need to clean up the corners of really wide rabbets? Then I have the plane for you. This Stanley plane is so rare it doesn’t even show up in John Walter’s “Stanley Tools Guide [...]

Today I’m finishing up an article on sawmaker Andrew Lunn at Eccentric Toolworks for the next issue of The Fine Tool Journal , my employer’s office is closed for the holiday so [...]

For the Lie-Nielsen fan who has everything, you might consider getting a Lie-Nielsen tattoo for the arm that pushes your bronze and ductile iron beauties. Casual Lie-Nielsen fans can purchase the [...]

Plastic mallets can be highly durable, but they always look like plastic. Wooden mallets look great, but they sure get beat up after a few years of use. Now Dave Jeske at Blue Spruce Toolworks [...]

Sometimes brand-new chisels and planes (even from the best manufacturers) don’t hold an edge well. I’ve seen some edges crumple like tin foil after two whacks with a mallet or two [...]

Custom sawmaker Andrew Lunn has become a part-time 911 paramedic to become a full-time sawmaker. Today is his first day on the job at Eccentric Toolworks. “My idea from the beginning was [...]

Reaching underneath my tool rack can be like sticking my hand in a lion’s mouth. All of the dangling edge tools have alternately shaved, nicked and scared the bejeezus out of me over the [...]