When it comes to the history of woodworking, period furniture styles, and woodworking techniques, most woodworkers think about William and Mary, Queen Anne, Federal, Chippendale, and so on. It is arguable, however, that furniture as we know it would not be the same without Chinese furniture, and that studying Chinese furniture leads to lessons about…

Learn the tricks to making sturdy furniture that folds flat. For those with mechanical minds, building furniture that folds into small spaces is great fun. Not only does the piece have to look good and serve its ultimate function as a bookcase, chair, or bed, it also has to collapse into the tiniest form possible….

This simple seat is ideal for a hallway or porch. This project is inspired by a period choir bench in my mom’s dining room – but I modernized the Gothic revival design of the original with sweeping curves on the arms (instead of shelter arms), and left out the moulding and cutouts. Panel Glueup This…

Project #1923 • Skill Level: Advanced • Time: 1 Week • Cost: $250 I’m not a fan of period furniture from England. The English emphasis on the horizontal conflicts with the American emphasis on the aspiring vertical that I find so appealing in period furniture built in this country. But, of course, there are exceptions,…

The planters and bench are separate parts—arrange them as you wish. Smell the flowers. Touch the leaves. It’s easy to enjoy plants when they’re placed at a convenient height—and easier still when you can sit right next to them. Sitting on a planter bench brings nature close to hand.    While you can make this…

Simple joinery allows (time to add) cool design details. I like traditional joinery, and I enjoy working with hand tools. But I also like completing a project without having it drag on because the joinery is labor intensive. This table has all the earmarks of a traditional heirloom: beautiful hardwood, classic proportions and solid construction….

Storage and utility in just the right size. It’s often said that a shop layout is never truly complete. While that may be true, I have discovered a valuable asset in my shop that can move and adapt to changing layouts. I’ve been testing a mobile shop cart over the last several years to make…

Dramatic details showcase leaded glass and English style. Some of the most aesthetically compelling pieces of furniture I’ve seen in the Arts & Crafts style were made by an English company most Americans have never heard of. Between 1890 and 1910, the Harris Lebus Company of London exploited the prevailing fashion in home décor, producing…

Angles and an artful inlay set this Arts & Crafts-inspired design apart. I’ve been fascinated by interesting little tabouret tables lately, and it seems the more complicated the design, the more I’m intrigued. Tapered sides, angled joinery, and curved shapes all tend to invite the eye for a closer look. This small side table is…

Methods that allow wood to move with the seasons. About a decade ago, I made a drop-leaf table for a book of projects. When it came time to mount the top, I just drilled pilot holes and drove cut nails through the top into the aprons. Are you horrified? Actually, the approach worked great. In…

Clear finish updates the look of this classic design. This modified Shaker design, downsized from a set of creamery shelves, is adapted from a Shaker Workshops catalog. To ensure our 3⁄4“-stock would  not bow under the weight of even the heaviest items, we decided to make these shelf pieces a bit shorter than those you’ll…

Recreated from a photograph and measurements, this design feels both modern and timeless. One of the things I have come to admire as a furniture designer-maker is the timelessness of works created long before us. I am continually impressed by the works’ latent ability to establish a perpetual necessity within the lives its users. It’s…

Years ago I discovered Federal furniture and knew that with beautiful veneer, superb inlay and simple carving, this would be my furniture period of choice. Federal furniture has much to offer woodworkers. In addition to the traditional joinery, there is veneering, inlay (stringing, banding as well as pictorial), reeding, curved work and some carving. Initially…

Turn a log into a sculptural statement piece. PROJECT #2101 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 4 days • Cost: $200 Have you ever come upon the opportunity to get some logs either due to a downed tree on your property or somewhere else within your community? A very familiar story is someone has to…

Lightweight, folding and portable, this chair is so simple to make you’ll want a pair – or more.  I’ve always disliked the Adirondack chair and have never understood its popularity. I find it uncomfortable because the human frame does not bend at right angles and also, because it neither folds nor stacks, it’s an awkward…

This mobile, folding table base provides a huge work area, holds a ton and folds up to only 7 in. thick.

This classic design is at home in settings both rustic and modern. PROJECT #2007 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 4 days • Cost: $500 My home is a 150-year-old farmhouse situated in the middle of Cincinnati, Ohio. When it came time to tackle the renovation of the dining room, we decided on a dining…

This wall hung magazine rack is easy to make with a few simple tools and readily available material.

Ladders form the base of this knockdown desk —     simple steps to a higher education in woodworking. Editor’s Note: Hunter Lang was a high school senior when he completed this article for Popular Woodworking in 2009. I’m in the midst of preparing for college, so I need a desk that is functional but…

With simple lines and straightforward joinery, this project yields ample shelf space (and drawers to boot). This large case-on-case shelving unit is adapted from similar pieces I’ve seen in private libraries and in stately homes. I also dug up a few pictures from the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction sites, where the form is referred to…

Portable, sturdy and easy to build, these were used for a variety of tasks. Many of the fantastic furniture forms of the Middle Ages have disappeared and have been replaced by pieces that are more complex but not necessarily better. One of my favorites is the early trestle table. It’s three pieces – a top…

Simple joinery serves this sophisticated geometric design. Mid-century modern design is enjoying a surge in popularity, and rightly so: Its clean lines and functional design make it practical and attractive, two traits evident in this bookcase by an unknown designer. Its stark, geometric design shows modern roots while giving it a strong graphic presence. And…

I’ve always found making something simple yet refined to be more work than it seems. I suspect that the slat-back chair doesn’t exactly look simple to build if you’re not a chairmaker. But it is relatively simple in the world of chairs, and it is a great entry into chairmaking. It covers all of the…

At the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan, world-renowned woodworker Tak Yoshino creates custom, handcrafted chairs that promote proper and healthy posture through the practice of Zen. As a result of his chairs receiving worldwide acclaim and an increasing number of woodworkers learning Japanese carpentry from Tak, he is currently building a woodworking school with…

Add artful accents to a play table. Project #1914 • Skill Level: Beginner • Time: 1 Day • Cost: $150 Last Christmas my wife and I introduced our young boys to LEGO. This was a good reminder that there is something really special about spending time with your kids with toys that you grew up…

Designer Enzo Mari gave the world this design (and many others). But are they worth building? When my grandparents married before World War II, they bought a dining room set that cost several months of my grandfather’s salary as a paper salesman. At that table, Popo and Grandma raised my father and uncle. And our…

Add GFRC to your furniture-making arsenal. I’ve always loved aircraft-inspired design. There’s just something about an everyday item inspired by a plane that evokes a sense of wanderlust in me, and I wanted to make a piece of furniture that had that aircraft feel. This concrete and walnut “wing” table is the result. Before I…

Use the power of the sliding dovetail. PROJECT #2002 • Skill Level: Advanced • Time: 5 days • Cost: $500 The Shakers were a Protestant sect of English Quakers that immigrated to the U.S. in 1774. They founded largely self-sufficient communities from Maine to Kentucky and lived by the three guiding principles of honesty, utility,…

A tapered (not turned) post sets this stand apart from contemporaries. I have a thing for candle stands. These small tables are quick to make, don’t require a lot of material to build, and are useful furniture to own. They make for excellent bedside tables, end tables and work well as a standalone piece, too….

Attractive lines, a comfortable seat and some lathe work provide the foundation for for this Shinto-inspired bar stools.

Build a modern workspace with just a single sheet of plywood. Project #2012 • Skill Level: Beginner • Time: 1 day • Cost: $150 Creating your own space seems to be a rite of passage for most first-time homebuyers. Albeit, its often easy to become disillusioned, overzealous and even unrealistic about the amount of work…

Restrained elegance in an American classic. Someday in your woodworking career, you’ll want to reach for the sky. Maybe you’ll have an urge to make an ambitious piece of your own design, or perhaps you’ll prefer to walk in the shoes of cabinetmakers who have gone before and build an American classic. If you love…

Build a rock-solid cabinet from one sheet of plywood. Your state-of-the-art TV deserves something better than a flimsy flat-pack shelving unit from the big box store. This handsome display stand features sturdy construction, storage for CDs and plenty of room for cable, gaming and sound-system components. It’s even designed to hide the cord clutter that’s…

Chairmaking requires its own unique tools and skillset. It may be daunting, but building a Windsor chair opens up a whole new world within woodworking. Here’s how to do it.

This rare and timeless silhouette is updated for contemporary use. When our youngest went off to kindergarten, my wife took on freelance copy-editing and needed a work station. An executive-size desk would not fit in out compact Chicago apartment, but this classic drop front, originally designed by Arts & Crafts master Charles Limbert, only needed…

Add a new dimension to your work with a few basic skills and an inexpensive machine. Woodworkers are joining the welding renaissance that’s happening among makers. Understanding the fundamentals of welding is key when you begin welding. Here’s how to incorporate beautiful welded frames into your furniture using simple designs and just a few tools….

Why liquid hide glue should be your first choice as an adhesive. Since the beginnings of civilization up until World War II, most pieces of furniture were assembled using animal-based glues. That fact changed almost overnight in the 20th century, however, with the introduction of polyvinyl acetate (PVA), what we call yellow or white glue….

This slender table maximizes minimal space. My family recently left our sprawling farmhouse for a compact ranch. We left our farmhouse-sized stuff too, and now we need new furniture. This little console table, under 4′ wide and just more than 1′ deep, fits nicely below a wall-mounted TV to maximize floor space, and the removable…

Conquer some fun joinery challenges with this geometric Baillie Scott build. As soon as I saw Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott’s 1901 occasional table on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I knew I had to make one. Baillie Scott (1865-1945) was an architect at the forefront of the Arts & Crafts…

Build a standing desk tailored to your body. I designed this compact stand-up desk to meet a prescription from my doctor to be less sedentary. “Sitting is the new smoking,” I was admonished. It was also to give me a challenge: to create a project start to finish almost entirely within the realm of pre-industrial…

Create sultry sophistication with Art Deco details. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1933) is considered by craftspeople, collectors and designers to be the premier Art Deco furniture maker; he was called “Art Deco’s greatest artist” by The New York Times in 2009. All the fuss is for good reason. This French designer’s work is characterized by the skillful…

This stool builds your skills with eight different joints and bent laminations. Competition is the whetstone of talent; this was in full effect when I built this Wharton Esherick-inspired stool for an online shop stool build-off hosted by Flair Woodworks. It was the perfect opportunity to try out a design that had been floating around…

Design without compromise: An exercise in high-end handwork. Sometimes a cup of tea is more than a cup of tea. Its surface may be still, its color translucent and its container unadorned. But in a single sip of hot water, you can taste the time of year the leaves were harvested, the sun that touched…

This handsome piece is simple to build and easily adapted to fit your stock. A friend asked me to design and build a table using a special piece of walnut. I was given approximate measurements, but everything else was up to me. I love the freedom these types of projects offer. While the table would…

This early form – an aumbry – spawned many different types of furniture. It is easy to forget that many of our favorite pieces of furniture are recent innovations. Forms such as coffee tables, bookcases and desks are – archaeologically speaking – new objects brought on by incredible modern wealth. When you cast your eye…

An 18th-century chairmaker’s saw makes 21st-century work easier The graveyard of obscure and forgotten tools is large, densely packed and many layers deep. Many of these tools richly deserve their pauper’s burial. But once in a while you come across a tool that does things that are quite remarkable, and you wonder why it ever…

Mortise-and-tenon joinery and side-hung drawers make for a simple but impressive build. Early in my career I met an avid antiques collector whose focus was objects from the William & Mary period. Like many people, my first reaction was, “That stuff with those big, ugly ball feet?” Under his guidance I began studying various periods…

A simple approach to a sublime design. I’ve been enamored of Greene & Greene furniture since my early days of woodworking, well before I possessed the skills to produce such a piece. Since that time, this style has become a regular part of my woodworking vocabulary, and I enjoy making reproductions and interpretations of classic…

Though not as lightweight as an eReader, this portable library is far more stylish. Bookcases that fold up like a clamshell were common among British travelers of the 19th century. Soldiers, students, clerks and the clergy were all fond of this easy way to take a library with them anywhere in the world. This version…

Top this sleek design with patterned veneer – it’s much easier than it looks. All over the country, mid-century designs, with their sleek surfaces and clean lines, are turning up in high-style interiors. Here’s a simple table that’s perfect for any modern interior setting. It employs loose-tenon joinery and a veneering technique I introduced years…

Stylish legs and a dapper door dress up a simple case piece – and help to deceive the eye. This design is inspired by a taper, but I needed to establish the right proportions to flesh the idea out. In much of my design work, I hover around the safe ground of a 3:5 or…

This antebellum free black man was the most successful cabinetmaker in North Carolina. My introduction to Thomas Day came in 1998 on a shopping trip to High Point, N.C., for a bed. I stumbled across a reproduction of an antique piece that had soaring mahogany posts supporting a tester that authoritatively defined the space that…

A modern approach to joinery yields perfect miters. Project #2009 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 3 days • Cost: $250 I have a definite affinity for Mid-Century furniture. There’s just something about those refined forms with clean lines and angles that really get me. When it came time to build a cabinet for my…

This classic furniture piece offers lots of storage in a small footprint – and it’s a simple hand-tool build I need some additional storage space in my 7′ x 13′ shop, however, space in my shop is at a premium. At the moment, every inch of floor and wall space is occupied, except for a…

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Benjamin Randolph, a Philadelphia cabinetmaker, to build a compact lap desk to serve as a portable office. This small mahogany box, now prominently displayed at Monticello, Jefferson’s hilltop home near Charlottesville, Virginia, has become one of the most famous wooden artifacts in American history. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence…

This reproduction of an industrial workhorse will give you years of use in your living room. At the turn-of-the-century, no factory existed without several industrial carts (also known as trucks) at its disposal. From hauling lumber to carrying crankshafts to serving city ice, these workhorses served many functions. Today, many of these antique carts have…

The first time I encountered this table in the White Water Shaker collection, it was locked in a storeroom with more than a dozen other pieces. To my eye, there was something unusual about it. Was it the size? It’s 25″ high – a bit shorter than typical. Was it the single drawer surrounded by…

  Construction lumber dressed up for display. For sturdy, attractive and affordable material to build these shelves, bypass the fancy stuff at the front of your local home center and head for the back where they keep the lumber intended for use as rafters and floor joists. In my neighborhood the available wood is Southern…

This table is a picnic to build with dimensional lumber, screws and bolts. I’m usually not intimidated by undertaking projects. We need some artwork for the new apartment? I can paint some vivid, abstract oil paintings. Hair is not the way I wanted it? I’ll trim it. Not the right color? I’ll dye it. Shirt…

Small tables are useful just about anywhere in the home. They can be easy to build, but a good design is important. To make the design more interesting, tapered legs (often part of Shaker, country and Federal furniture) are part of this design. The taper begins below the aprons and continues on a slope until…

  A little geometry and a simple prototype ensure a pleasant ride. I recently set out to design and build a new rocking chair. I’ve designed and built a handful of rockers, but my past efforts didn’t rock as well as I would have liked. I have confidence in my ability to make a comfortable…

  A clever design yields portable functionality. My father-in-law gave me a table just like this one on our last trip to Portugal. He picked it up in Serra de Monchique, a small mountain village in the Algarve in the southern part of the country. He has a good eye for design, and knew I…

Expand your casework repertoire with a curvaceous front. One of the most interesting aspects of a serpentine chest, with its front concave at the ends and convex in the center, is how the wood grain changes as the curves undulate across the front. A drawer front that begins as a piece of flat stock presents…

My Uncle Bob was a butcher—not the woodworking kind people joke about, but the real thing. In his off hours, he used to switch blades and put his meat-cutting bandsaw to work as a woodworking tool. You won’t find any of his stuff in the Museum of Modern Art, but you will find one of…

Though not traditional, router patterns make quick work of the inlay. In southeastern Pennsylvania, just northwest of Philadelphia, is Chester County. It was one of the original three counties formed by William Penn in 1682, under a charter signed by King Charles II. In 1729, a large portion of the western county was split off…

This simple modular shelf offers plenty of options for reconfiguration. Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the December 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking. One symptom of my pervasive early 20s restlessness is that I regularly overhaul my apartment, completely rearranging the furniture and décor once a month or so. It’s not so much that…

Steam-bending or bent laminations can be used to make this eye-catching design. The design of this table is part of a series that I revisit from time to time. The original concept for the series was based on a pinwheel (a common example of which is a child’s pinwheel on a stick that blows in…

Three variations on a carved foot offer high style. Access to information provides the modern woodworker with greater variety, and it challenges their skills more than their 18th-century counterparts. When we consider how fashion-conscious both producers and consumers were in the 1700s, it’s truly amazing to think how quickly the word spread of stylistic changes…

Expose your joinery skills with this Arts & Crafts classic. In the early 1900s, furniture maker Gustav Stickley began producing a unique style of furniture that he called “Craftsman.” At the time, the world was coming into the modern industrial age, and Stickley, among others, began to question the value of mass-produced furniture and its…

Campaign-style furniture is as sturdy and simple as Shaker. It is as masculine as Arts & Crafts. And it is free of adornment, like Bauhaus pieces. Yet many woodworkers are unaware of this furniture style, which was popular for more than 150 years in Great Britain, its colonies and North America. Perhaps the problem is…

This North Carolina beauty exemplifies the style of the early South. I don’t consider myself a furniture snob, but until recently, I’d not studied furniture from the South beyond pieces featured in “Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection” by Ronald L. Hurst and Johnathan Prown (Colonial Williamsburg). After spending a few days combing through…

This small coffee table is a great introduction to building furniture. It doesn’t require much material and it’s an opportunity to develop your skills. This project is sturdy, attractive and easy to build. All of the parts come from standard widths of lumber. I used poplar from my local home center, and I made the…

Learning to work with veneers and curves enables you to design and build almost anything. This bow-front entry table serves as a good introduction to both – without costing a small fortune or requiring you to attempt an overly intimidating project. Veneer introduces to you to a world of beautiful grain patterns and species that…

Gerrit Rietveld’s simple design for a lounge chair is a great platform for exploring ergonomics. PROJECT #2005 • Skill Level:Beginner • Time: 4 hours • Cost: $50 Gerrit Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and architect that worked in the first half of the 20th century. Part of the De Stijl art movement, Rietveld’s furniture…

Many interesting pieces of furniture are deceptively simple. Deceptive, because although they appear simple, they are actually very difficult to make. Although this is occasionally true in my own work, that’s not the case with the Arch Table, a piece that looks more complicated to make than it actually is. I’m not saying it’s easy;…

As the old saying goes, sometimes you have to learn to walk before you can run. That’s certainly been true in my career as a cabinetmaker: I’ve tried to learn the basics on small projects, where I could afford to make mistakes, before tackling the really ambitious work that I’ve had my heart set on…

Remember Lincoln Logs? When I was a kid, my friends and I spent hours building cabins and forts with them. Lincoln Logs locked together, one on top of another, just like the real deal. They were my first introduction to wood joinery. While playing with them, I must have learned something that stuck with me…

Unique because of its appearance and easy to build because it’s constructed using basic woodworking techniques, this two-part cabinet provides copious storage and signals the work—and the shop—of a true craftsman. The two cabinets share the same features and joinery, so building them simultaneously offers economy when milling the parts. But either cabinet would make…

Coffee tables didn’t exist as a furniture form until the 1920s  (when they were known as cocktail tables). So while there is no true Shaker coffee table, I needed a table to put in front of my couch that would work well with the other Shaker-influenced furniture in my living room. And to my mind,…

Video: Watch Bob’s table saw techniques for cutting the drawer finger joints. I designed this buffet cabinet a couple years ago for a weekend seminar on Arts & Crafts joinery. After the class I added a 3-D model to the Popular Woodworking Magazine online SketchUp collection. It was an easy way to provide detailed plans…

Recreate this classic design and push your skills to the next level. Project #2004 • Skill Level: Advanced • Time: 3 days • Cost: $400 Of all the surviving Charles Limbert designs, there are three that stand out above the rest in my mind. One is the #355 Cottage Bookcase, and the second is the…

Back in the 1950s, traditional cabinetmakers in Scandinavian workshops produced sleek, powerful furniture using modern materials and modest machines. This project pays homage to those exciting days of Mid-century modern furniture. I designed the Metropolitan Console to function as an end table or a nightstand. Its low profile, streamlined design and light color fits well…

I like to think of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library as America’s first “bookmobile.” When the British burned down the nation’s capitol in 1814, the inferno took with it many of the books owned by the government of our young nation. Lucky for us, Jefferson had a personal library of about 6,700 books – an astonishing…

There’s something special about a small table with a round top—it invites intimacy. When I sit at one, I stop and savor warm memories of lingering with my wife in a quiet café or bistro years ago. The task of making a round top can break that spell, however: it ain’t easy. Well, it could…

Combine five 2x4s, a handful of screws and a long afternoon to build a handsome and sturdy sitting spot for your deck or garden. by Christopher Schwarz & Kara Gebhart Uhl My father always has had a knack for doing more with less. He built the first house on our farm using a Skil saw,…

Pattern routing makes quick and easy work of these urn-shaped sides. Click here for the SketchUp model of this project. While vacuuming a few weeks back, I was thinking about what to build for this issue’s “I Can Do That” project when it hit me … actually, when I hit it with my vacuum. I’ve…

Sit up straight. Or lean back and relax. This Gustav Stickley Morris chair is an icon of American furniture design with exposed joinery and solid quartersawn white oak. Reproduce an Arts & Crafts classic and reward yourself with the ultimate easy chair. In Gustav Stickley’s book Craftsman Homes, there is a picture of this chair…

While visiting with chairmaker Bob Erickson (pictured above with his son Tor), it seems appropriate to ask, “What chair are you sitting in right now?” He explains it’s an unfinished Van Muyden chair part of a dining room set he’s building for a client in New York City. Bob’s Van Muyden Chair—three-legged, crafted of quilted…

Have you ever heard of a “faldstool?” You’ve probably seen one in a movie that’s set in Medieval or Renaissance times—it’s the distinctive portable chair that a nobleman or Bishop sits on, the one with curved legs and arms that looks like it would fold together. The oldest faldstools really did fold up, which makes…

I’m a boot guy. I wear work boots pretty much every day I spend in my shop—and as a hard-working professional cabinetmaker, that can often be six days a week. I’ve got three pairs of well-worn Carhartts to cycle through, plus a pair of hiking boots. They’ve been cluttering up my hallway for years, but…

If you can cut a lap joint, you can make this bench. PROJECT #2001 • Skill Level:Beginner • Time: 2 Days • Cost: $100 When I started woodworking, it was driven by necessity; I needed something that didn’t exist, so I made it. My woodworking was also driven by a desire to spend my time…

Extra-large finger joints add a distinctive touch to any project. Every woodworker is going to ask, “How did you do that?” Most finger joints are pretty small in scale and easy to cut on a tablesaw or router table. But what if you want really, really big finger joints? Can you imagine making accurate cuts…

Curved-front drawers add a touch of grace and liveliness to a cabinet. But if you’re not set up to re-saw wide stock into thin, uniform laminations, you’re sunk, right? Wrong. You can use thin plywood instead of re-sawn hardwood, so the biggest obstacle is out of the way before you start! Build the Drawer, On…

Spine and rib construction is key to this design. Project #1924 • Skill Level: Intermediate • Time: 4 Days • Cost: $200 Thanks to advanced design tools, an entirely new category of modern architectural details, furniture design and art has emerged. Named after the specialty software tools used to create it, it’s called parametric design….

Turn a closet into a hiding place with a basic bookcase, trimmed to match the room. The alluring nature of secret rooms has captivated my imagination for as long as I can remember. Growing up, my mind would race with possibilities, as I’d watch someone unlock a bookcase by tilting a book or some other…

I moved to Kentucky/Cincinnati on July 1st, and by the 15th of the month, I was already starting out on building the furniture for my new house here. Josselyn (my partner) and I had committed to leaving behind the cheap, second-hand furniture we had bought since leaving college years ago, and in doing so, arrived…

Yoav Liberman and his student Lisa put the finishing touches on a unique live edge desk.

Is there life after running your own professional furniture shop? Absolutely, says Russell Gale in Part 2 of my series on different kinds of furniture makers.

Slab, or live-edge furniture is all the rage, and I like it! If you think wood is one of the most amazing things ever created, then how can you not like a piece of furniture that retains so much of the look of natural wood? The grain on full display and the undulations and imperfections…

A trip to a professional upholstery shop yields valuable lessons in prototyping furniture and more.

Stronger Shelves Designing sag-proof shelves. By Tom Caspar Have you ever heard a shelf groan? Well, maybe not, but some shelves look like they would if they could. So much stuff gets piled on them that they end up sagging like a limp noodle. It’s not a pretty sight. A span that holds up weight…

See the completed burl slab coffee table, plus learn how Yoav and his student Helder ensured this highly irregular table stays level.

How do you differentiate between varieties of furnituremakers? Here’s the preliminary take on how I do.

Yoav Liberman and his student Helder design and construct a coffee table out of a particularly intriguing burl slab.

Learn how to make through dovetails step by step and improve your overall hand tool skills.

We’ve come a long way from cabins in the woods and 18th Century dwellings. Part of that transition is the mental shift of thinking of furniture as part of our wealth and property…

I haven’t given much thought to the culture of paying dues until a few recent occasions, when I’ve been struck by how this dimension of woodworking culture—at least, the culture of professional furniture and cabinetmaking, outside the art furniture world—has changed.

Things have changed enormously for woodworkers over the last 40 years. Here are a few examples, with less visible ones coming next week.

Get an inside look at the legendary contemporary and mid-century designs featured in the Boyd Collection at Chicago’s Wright auction house.

Last July I returned to Peters Valley School of Crafts to teach a six day-long class in live edge furniture making. Live edge, aka Natural Edge, is one of my most beloved wood mediums.

Meet the artists from the December 2017 issue How five masterful makers integrate CNC and CAD technology into their woodworking In the December 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine, the article, Digital Artistry gives the readers a peek at what five professional woodworkers are doing with digital tools in their shops. Each has an extensive…

Meet the artists from the December 2017 issue How five masterful makers integrate CNC and CAD technology into their woodworking. In the December 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine, the article, Digital Artistry gives the readers a peek at what five professional woodworkers are doing with digital tools in their shops. Each has an extensive…

One of the unique pieces built during my weekend workshop at Snow Farm was a live edge coffee table. Lisa’s “Cape Cod coffee table” began as a 1” cross cut of a cherry tree that showed an attractive burl, intriguing insects cavities and some natural cracks. Our plan was first to fill the imperfection with…

Curvy furniture is great to look at and usually offers a tactile aesthetic that makes it appealing. Holding it all together is the joinery – and whether it’s dovetails, tenons or lap joinery, creating that joinery on a curve adds a new level of complication. Whether made by hand or by machine, most of our training on…

Award-winning inspiration from the 2017 competition. Read the article in its entirety. Article: To see all of this year’s entries, go to the entry page here. From the November 2017 issue, #235 Grand Prize The grand prize goes to Al Spicer for his demilune (half-moon) marquetry table, featuring on its top a flowering morning glory vine…

Ben was one of the six students who took my live-edge Columbus day weekend class at Snow Farm. A newcomer into woodworking, motivated and eager to learn, he asked me to help him design and build a side table for his Boston apartment. Feeling that woodworking is going to be more than just a weekend…

I came across David Thomas Brown’s coffee table build on Reddit last week and thought it was a great build. If you spot a build that has great photography and solid technique, send me an email! – David Lyell I remember the glory days of unlimited garage/driveway space and access to my dad’s tools that…

A contemporary-looking design that’s really from the 18th century. by Christopher Schwarz Pages 28 – 34 October 2017 Buy the issue here. If you’ve ever been dragged to Ikea by your spouse (few woodworkers go willingly – except to eat meatballs), you’ve probably seen a table similar to this gateleg one. It’s been a staple…

When Josselyn and I moved out here to Covington, I refused to do two things. For one, I wasn’t going to bring some of the beater furniture that had been following us around since college. And two, I didn’t want to buy any cheap furniture when we got here, with the plan of replacing it. This led to…

In the next few months, I’ve got a lot of furniture to make; Josselyn (my partner) and I just moved to Cincinnati from Maine. Last week, I built a new coffee table for our place. This week I’m building a new kitchen table, in between setting into my new job and figuring out where to buy…

When I lived in Maine, I had a wide array of projects and furniture that I wanted to build for our house. When it became clear, however, that we were going to move down here to Covington, Ky., I put the designs and wood aside, not wanting to build a bunch of furniture only to…

Traditional chairmaking starts with a shaving horse and a drawknife. Used with both green and dried wood, woodworkers have relied on these two tools for centuries. Simple to use, there are just a few things to be aware of before getting to work. In this short video, Windsor chairmaker Elia Bizzarri gives a valuable overview…

One of the challenges when building a chair is clamping the dang thing down so you can work on it. I’ve seen lots of solutions that use band clamps. But I dislike band clamps (perhaps I had a bad experience at band camp). So here’s what I do. Most workholding problems can be solved with…

This slender table maximizes minimal space. by Rodney Wilson My family recently left our sprawling farmhouse for a compact ranch. We left our farmhouse-sized stuff too, and now we need new furniture. This little console table, under 4′ wide and just more than 1′ deep, fits nicely below a wall-mounted TV to maximize floor space,…

When you make a table it’s fairly straightforward. Four legs (or some variation thereof) and a top. Not too hard. If you choose to splay the legs, then you’ve added some geometry and math to the process…and that’s why you see a lot of tables with straight legs! If you build a chair with straight…

Stretch and enhance your creative skills by learning how to design your own furniture. Professional furniture maker Aaron Fedarko shares his expert design instruction to help you achieve success.

If you’re looking purely at durability, then an oil-based polyurethane is still superior, but only marginally.

I recently found myself with that most fortunate of situations – a whole day in the shop. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: get some furniture projects finished. I had three waiting for the right moment to apply the final touches. The first of them was a simple nailed board chest. I found…

You can’t use this wood as it is. You’ve got to do some selective cutting first and then dry out the wood before making furniture with it.

Editor’s note: The measured drawings for the Risom coffee table in this article by Michael Crow are similar to the shop drawings included in Crow’s new book, “Mid-Century Modern Furniture.” The book presents shop drawings and techniques for creating 29 projects designed by some of the era’s foremost designers, including Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, George Nelson…

Dale Barnard has been building furniture professionally for decades. And during a recent video shoot, it was very comforting to see that I wasn’t the only one breaking the rules on sanding. Building a Greene & Greene furniture piece means changing transition levels in the wood frequently. And that leads to either rasping, filing or…

Before you read beyond the first few sentences of this blog entry, there a couple things you should know: I have no problems sharpening a drawknife. Never have (except that time in the 1990s where I ended in the ER for seven stitches). One of the first tools I inherited from my grandfather was his…

This article is excerpted and abridged from the Winter 2010 issue of Woodwork Magazine. Lost in thought, I stood in the grocery store checkout line, with the design for a table desk on my mind. To be frank, I was frustrated with my design efforts in general, because they were bounded by rules that were…

The following is excerpted from a new book, Furniture Fundamentals: Tables, in which you’ll find collected many of the best table projects published in Popular Woodworking. You’ll find the full step-by-step instructions for this Glen D. Huey piece in the book, but the measured drawings below are an excellent place to begin. I’ve built a…

Is Greene & Greene actually a part of the Arts & Crafts Movement? Lately, there has been discussion that would bring this into question. It is undeniable that their work was highly refined and stands apart from the other makers of the era. So, is it possible they were simply lumped together with their contemporaries…

Soup Up Your Router Table By Dave Munkittrick Your router table will really sing with these great accessories. Like all good tools, our accessories will increase safety and improve results. Even though we designed them specifically for the Best Buy Router Table on page 39, they’re easily adapted to use on almost any router-table system….

Two-Part Bookcase Here’s a big bookcase that you can build in a small shop. By Tom Caspar Building a tall bookcase can stretch the limits of a small shop.We all know that big boards can be a bear to handle and glue up, so I’ve taken an old Scandinavian design and sliced it up into…

Laminated Pedestal Table Curved legs make this table strong, practical and attractive. By Fred Matlack After knocking my knee on the leg of our kitchen table and spilling the gravy for the umpteenth time, I realized it was time I made a pedestal table for our kitchen. We wanted a table in white oak—one that…

Butterfly Inlay Make a perfect fit with a shop-made template. By Tom Caspar Don’t you just love it when something that looks extremely difficult turns out to be oh-so easy? Making butterfly inlay with a plunge router is a good example. The technique is very easy to learn. All it takes is a set of…

Mobile Outfeed Tables Upgrade your tablesaw and save precious shop space with a pair of outfeed tables. By George Vondriska A tablesaw is a lot safer and easier to use when it’s equipped with an outfeed table. Whether you’re ripping long boards or crosscutting big sheets of plywood, you really need more support than just…

Pedestal Picnic Table One day in the shop and you’re ready to party! By Jean Bartholome If you’re looking for a picnic table that’s simple to build but looks great on your deck or patio, here’s the design for you. Its pedestal support ensures that no one can complain about “having the leg.” The round…

Steam Bent Music Stand “Learning to bend wood with steam takes practice, just like playing an instrument.”  By Seth Keller Bending wood with steam always intrigued me, but I never tried it. The process seemed mysterious, complicated and maybe even dangerous. But one day a beat-up old music stand motivated me to give steam bending a…

The Unsinkable Molly Brown's Parlor Table This little charmer folds flat, then sets up in seconds. By Tim Johnson This table is an accurate reproduction of one purchased by Molly Brown and her husband in the late 1880s, when they were starting their family in the rough mining town of Leadville, Colorado. It easily disassembles…

Composing a Tabletop Two ways to create a beautiful top. By Ian Kirby The top is the first thing people will see when they admire a table you’ve made. The selection and arrangement of the boards is a testament to your skills and sensitivity to the beauty of wood. If you take the time to…

Trophy Coffee Table Stunning Beauty Right from the Tree By Dave Munkittrick Big planks of wood with natural bark edges make my heart race. Most woodworkers share a desire to build something from a single, thick plank of wood. After 20 years of building custom cabinets and furniture, I finally got my chance. The first…

Treasured Board Table One precious board is all you need. By Tom Caspar Every woodworker discovers an extraordinary piece of wood once in a while. What do you do with it? One board is not enough for a big project. It’s a crime to cut it up into small pieces for a little project. So…

Tablesaw Tenoning Jig A precision joint-making tool for less than $30. By Frank Gregg A tablesaw tenoning jig is an essential tool for most woodworkers. But commercial units cost $100 and up, and shop-made jigs that I’ve tried, all riding on the fence somehow, were unstable and hard to adjust. So I devised this jig,…

Christopher Schwarz built this lovely and delicate Creole Table for our February 2007 issue (an issue that also includes a nice Greene & Greene side table, Michael Dunbar’s discussion of traditional handscrews, an easy and accurate way to sharpen scrapers and more). You can read it free here, but I recommend downloading the PDF at…

Beautiful Boulle Work A masterpiece of inlaid intricacy begins with a sandwich of brass, sheet, wood veneer and waxed paper. By Silas Kopf “Plus c’a change, plus c’est la même chose.” This centuries-old French expression translates something like this: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It’s a bit of wisdom that…

Turning Table Legs By Alan Lacer Turning four table legs that match may sound impossible, but it’s not. With these tried and true tips, and a little practice, you can successfully turn even the largest legs. And these same techniques apply when you’re copying a broken chair spindle or producing a set of balusters. Here’s…

Classic Country Hutch American style and classic hardwood create a timeless treasure By Tim Johnson Tall and stately, this cupboard promises to be the focal point of any dining area. A functional wonder, it combines elegant display with spacious storage. For you as a builder, though, this cupboard is loaded with something quite different: advanced…

I’m busy trying to tie up the loose ends and a few empty columns in our forthcoming book “Handsaw Essentials” (which should be available by the end of October). It’s a collection of (almost) everything we’ve written on blog posts and in Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine on meat-powered saws and sawing over the last…

All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make the better. – Ralph Waldo Emerson You know what the Telephone Game is, right?  One person starts by whispering a phrase into the next person’s ear and that person whispers what they heard to the next person and this continues down the line.  By the time the…

Mario Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop has an article in our August 2013 issue that shows you how to build a clever table saw jig he uses to carve the chair seat for his contemporary chairs; it’s a jig he first encountered two decades ago in a book by Robert Marquis, “Making the Classic…

  No matter what your political bent, you’ll want to check out the latest episode of Charles Brock’s The Highland Woodworker, which Popular Woodworking proudly sponsors, and watch as he visits former President Jimmy Carter. Chuck gets and an up-close look at the Moulthrop bowls and Sam Maloof furniture President Carter keeps in his office….

Congratulations (and belated good wishes) to Ralph S. Wilkes, who in April celebrated his 100th birthday. Mr. Wilkes wrote for Popular Woodworking (and other woodworking magazines) in the mid-1990s, after retiring from Keuka College in Keuka Park, N.Y., where for 35 years he was a business manager and treasurer. He now lives in Canandaigua, N.Y.,…

Selecting "Best of Show" awards at the San Diego "Design in Wood" exhibition on behalf of Woodwork and American Woodwork was a challenge. As I described in my last blog, the process for choosing the winner in the Furniture category was made somewhat easier because at least all the contenders were furniture…and there were only…

Because chairs take abuse like a rented mule, the simple mortise-and-tenon joint is sometimes not enough. In traditional Windsor chair construction, the legs and spindles are attached to the plank seat using tenons that are cone-shaped along their lengths. So the mortises have to be the same shape. These tapered joints are clever. The more…

Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and as such we received a number of requests for the “Titanic Deck Chair” article, which originally ran in 1999. In honor of that fateful night a century ago (and in response to popular demand), we’re making the article and full-size plans…

Gluing and clamping angled assemblies – like most chairs – can be a hassle. There are some great strategies for approaching glue-ups, angled and otherwise, in various books including “Glue and Clamps,” but sometimes it just comes down to having the right tool for the job at hand. For years I fought with K-Body or…

Where is the craftsmanship line crossed between between handwork, machine work, and machine work driven by computers? Or, is there a line at all? I certainly don’t know the answer. But I was thinking about the question recently after my son sent an e-mail to me with a link to a video. The message was…

Old styles of furniture can still speak to us loud and clear today. The Queen Anne style, popular in America from 1725 to 1760, is an elegant language of flowing lines and reverse curves. This footstool is a small-scale example of a very elaborate style. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at cabriole…

Show Case View your treasures from every angle. By Luke Hartle Any collection you want to display, from fish fossils to Baccarat crystal will look great inside this cabinet. It allows unobstructed viewing from the front because the doors are on the sides. The doors themselves are frameless glass to maximize the side views. Inside,…

St. Croix Valley Chairs Enjoy your setting while comfortably sitting. By Tim Johnson Stylish and comfortable, these chairs are also built to last. Made of rot-resistant white oak, with robust joinery secured with weatherproof glue, they’re guaranteed to become some of your garden’s most cherished perennials.  We’ve engineered the building process so you’ll be able…

Frame & Panel Hope Chest Mortise and Tenon Joinery the Easy Way by Tom Caspar I used to struggle with mortise and tenon joinery. I tried every new system that came along, but they all seemed way too complicated. One day a friend of a friend walked into my shop, said “Throw away those fancy…

Mission Blanket Chest If you love Mission-style furniture, here’s the perfect complement to your bedroom. By Tom Caspar Store blankets, bedding and memories inside this huge chest. Three frames and a plywood back make up its basic structure, and all the other parts are added on, one by one, so building it is about as…

Teak Coffee Table A retro table with sleek lines and soft edges By Bruce Kieffer With the resurgence of the mid-century Modern style in furniture, I thought I’d have some fun with this classic little coffee table. I used teak because it was the wood of choice for the Danish Modern style in the 1960s…

Farm Table You don't need a dream shop to build this dream project By Tim Johnson Aside from feeding the flock (this table seats a flock of eight), a big surface where you can spread things out is invaluable, for computing, writing, hobbies or for kids' activities. A large table is the perfect gathering place…

Sliding Dovetail Bench Super-strong router joints give it elegant simplicity. By Tim Johnson This elegant bench has humble origins: Its forebears have been sat upon, stepped on and dragged about for centuries. Utilitarian ancestry is readily apparent in our bench. It features simple construction and strong interlocking joints.  The pieces fit together like a puzzle,…

Barbara's Table A small amount of fabulous wood can go a long way. By Tom Caspar Surprise! My wife loved this table because I designed it just for her. It’s beautiful, versatile and with time-saving biscuits and dowels, it only took me a few weekends to build. It’s a great project. You may also like……

I’m gearing up to build a run of Roorkhee Chairs for some customers and (fingers crossed) this magazine. But before I can even order the wood I had to do something I thought I’d never do again: Buy a piece of commercial furniture. The Roorkhee Chair is a seminal piece of British campaign furniture and…

Restore an Antique Oak Table Thoughtful finishing and new leaves prepare this classic for the next 100 years. By Kevin Southwick Purchase the complete version of this woodworking technique story from AWBookstore.com. This old table looks like a prime candidate for refinishing. Strip off the old finish, sand out all the dings and scratches, spray…

Display Cabinet Open sides and built-in lights showcase your treasures. By Randy Johnson Some cabinets are all about displaying the beauty of wood. This cabinet, with its glass doors, shelves and sides and built-in lighting, is all about displaying what’s inside. Whether it’s your collection of antique tools or fine porcelain, whatever you put inside…

“Two DVD’s + Book + Full-Size Patterns + Online Support = Success!

Shaker Sewing Cabinet Machine-cut dovetails add a new twist. By Tom Caspar You can find a place for every conceivable sewing notion in this Shaker-inspired chest of drawers. Mix 'n' match modular trays fi t perfectly in the middle drawers. Store patterns or magazines in the large lower drawer. There’s enough compartments for a complete…

Stowaway Bench This bench will fit in any entryway, and store your umbrella and gloves too! By Jon Stumbras This country-style bench will cut the clutter by the door and serve as a resting spot to put on your shoes. The lid opens up to reveal a handy storage area. At only 11-in. wide by…

Greene and Greene-Style Hall Table ?Exquisite detailing turns ordinary into extraordinary. By Bruce Kieffer People just love this wonderful little table with its soft-colored mahogany, ebony accents and finger-jointed drawer. The spectacular detailing is characteristic of furniture designed by Charles and Henry Greene. The Greene brothers were prominent architects and furniture designers in Pasadena, Calif.,…

Dovetailed Bookcase No screws, no nails—tapered sliding dovetails hold it all together. By Luke Hartle Simple, beautiful, strong. This bookcase is just six boards held together using one elegant joint: the tapered sliding dovetail. Dovetails join the shelves to the sides and the sides to the top. This joint has a well-deserved reputation for being…

Extending Dining Table Storing the leaves is a snap–they tuck away under the top. By Joe Gohman Have you ever seen wood glow? That’s what happened when I finished this table. I turned off the shop lights, walked out the door and took a glance back at my labor of love. That huge cherry surface…

Two-Part Bookcase Here's a big bookcase that you can build in a small shop. By Tom Caspar Building a tall bookcase can stretch the limits of a small shop. We all know that big boards can be a bear to handle and glue up, so I’ve taken an old Scandinavian design and sliced it up…

Early American furniture has been widely studied, but through a narrow lens. Typical museum pieces seen today were not found in typical homes, and there

Bow-Front Bookcase Sleek, gentle curves make it easy to look at. "Sandwich" construction and simple joinery make it easy to build. By Randy Johnson This bookcase combines straightforward joinery and materials in a design that won’t overwhelm your budget or your room. Yet its deep shelves provide plenty of room for oversize books or a…

Mission Bookstand Display your scrapbooks, photo albums and woodworking skills. By Tom Caspar Woodworkers like to see how things work, right out in the open. We love looking at gears, levers and cams, and when it comes to furniture, there’s nothing more fascinating than exposed joints, like dovetails and wedged tenons. This bookstand is held…

Stickley-Style Sideboard A masterpiece in Arts and Crafts style By Tim Johnson and Bruce Kieffer This sideboard is a reproduction of one that originally appeared in Gustav Stickley’s 1912 Craftsman Furniture Catalog as piece No. 8141⁄2. The cost was $50. It was factory produced, at a time when woodworking as a hobby was virtually unknown….

Limbert Table A slick bandsaw jig makes it straightforward to build. By Jon Stumbras and Tom Caspar Bold design, strong joints and graceful cutouts.These are hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts furniture made by the Charles P. Limbert Company of Holland, Michigan. In 1910, Limbert designed a large oval library table that’s become an icon…

Greene and Greene-Style Side Table By Tim Johnson Why make an ordinary table when you can make this elegant one instead? The difference is in the details. That’s the genius behind the furniture of Charles and Henry Greene, California architects and furniture designers active during the first quarter of the 20th century. Through thoughtfully designed…

Cottage Bookcase Reclaimed Douglas fir gives rustic charm. By David Radtke Every board of this bookcase is full of character—nail holes, gouges and even hammer marks. That’s because each piece was pulled from an old Montgomery Ward warehouse in Baltimore. Originally part of a large shelving system built more than 75 years ago, our reclaimed…

Modular Desk System Mix-and-match components make a desk that fits your needs. By Bruce Kieffer Download this Modular Desk System Project with complete plans and step-by-step instructions from AWBookstore.com. This computer-desk system has more going for it than great looks. The system is based on modular components that can be assembled in a variety of…

“(Chairs) are too hard. Chairmakers are doomed to poverty.” — Gary Bennett (1934 – ) furniture maker and artist If I were a full-time chairmaker, I don’t think I’d be doomed to poverty. Instead, I’d be doomed to starvation – or taking a job as an assistant baby chicken sexer. But I do like me…

Our latest CD collection, “The 100 Best Shelving & Storage Projects,” is on sale now at ShopWoodworking.com for the introductory offer of $15.99 through August 31 (regular price: $19.99). For this collection, we looked through all the issues of Popular Woodworking from the last 12 years, and all our issues of Woodworking Magazine, to select…

This clever porch swing design from ‘Backyard Projects for Today’s Homestead‘ uses bent lamination sides to support the slats and to create the arms. Clever, and an interesting project. Download the free PDF plans by following the link below. Free Porch Swing Plan

Modern Mission Cabinet Simple jigs create stylish joints. By Tim Johnson My dog’s energetic tail inspired this cabinet. Anything within wagging range was endangered, including a number of my favorite antique toys. After one-too-many near misses, I decided to move these small treasures to safety—above the wag line and behind glass. The cabinet I built…

Grand Walnut Bookcase Rich Walnut, elegant details and secret storage in a design that's fast and straight forward to build By Randy Johnson Sometimes a new piece of furniture conjures up images from a distant time and place. This bookcase, I imagine, would fit right into an early 20th-century lawyer’s office, filled with leather-bound volumes…

Shaker Stand By Tim Johnson Though it looks modern, the original version of this three-legged stand was built almost two hundred years ago in a Shaker community. Simple, purposeful and elegant, this stand is an outstanding example of Shaker design. Like the Shakers, we’ve embraced simplicity and innovation in our version of this timeless American…

Stickley Style Chest of Drawers Build a masterpiece with handsome quartersawn oak. By Randy Johnson This striking chest of drawers is closely modeled after one of Gustav Stickley’s most famous designs. Both bold and graceful, the wide overhanging top, slightly bowed legs and arched apron of Stickley’s chest show the strong influence of his brilliant…

Café Table Transform rugged Australian jarrah into a graceful outdoor table. By Tom Caspar Picture yourself at a small, round café table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. The world goes by along a busy boulevard. People are hurrying about their business, but you’re an island of calm in a crazy world. Although…

Hefty Bookends Resaw your own veneer to hide the steel shot inside. Got a small chunk of figured wood that you’d like to show off? Resaw it into thick veneers and make a pair of matching bookends. They’re laminated to conceal holes filled with steel shot. Although these blocks look light, they’re actually heavy enough…

The updated and revised version of Thomas Moser’s classic “How to Build Shaker Furniture” is now available for pre-order. You may be asking, “What’s updated and revised?” We thought we’d offer a peek, and also let the author himself tell you what’s changed — in the world, and in the book. Click on the link…

A great chair to make in pairs (or more), this outdoor version of a classic Charles Limbert Arts & Crafts cafe chair is simple to make using basic home center lumber and only a few common tools. Very little woodworking experience required.   Download the Limbert Chair Plans Here

Cantilevered Display Shelves Strong, glueless joints support these elegant, cantilevered shelves. By Dave Munkittrick Whatever you collect—rocks, porcelain, folk art or photos of your Schnauzer—it’ll get the attention it deserves when displayed on these shelves. The simple design is wide open at the front and sides so nothing interferes with what’s on display. The stepped…

Walnut Wall Shelves Versatile go-anywhere shelves to hold books, discs, kitchenware, or anything you want! By Jon Stumbras Never enough shelf space where you want it? This little shelf is a great way to add extra storage in just about any room. It’s compact—only 22-3/4-in. wide by 31-1/4-in. tall by 9-1/4-in. deep. Yet it’s tall…

Shaker Table A perfect blend of classic lines and modern joinery. By Tom Caspar When I first saw a drawing of this table 20 years ago in a book by Thomas Moser, I knew I had to make it (see Sources, below). It perfectly captures the essence of classic Shaker design. Taut, lean and elegant,…

Shaker Trestle Table Graceful bent-laminated feet are super-strong. By Chris Cander This modern interpretation of a Shaker communal table appeals to furniture maker Mark Love’s customers because of its elegant simplicity, ample legroom, and the fact that it’s easy to clean under. But Mark loves to build it because of the feet. “Making these feet…

Cherry Pie Safe This versatile classic goes together fast with biscuits. By Dave Munkittrick and Bruce Kieffer Pie safes like this one were once commonplace. The pierced-tin panels kept insects out while providing ventilation for cooling baked goods. Our version is built of solid cherry with a simple, modified-Shaker style that blends easily into most…

Portable productivity with a nod to steampunk style.

By Mag Ruffman

The glorious thing about being self-sufficient is that you can usually figure out ways to create what you need.

Cantilevered Display Shelves Strong, glueless joints support these elegant, cantilevered shelves. By Dave Munkittrick Whatever you collect—rocks, porcelain, folk art or photos of your Schnauzer—it’ll get the attention it deserves when displayed on these shelves. The simple design is wide open at the front and sides so nothing interferes with what’s on display. The stepped…

Television Cabinet Hide the electronics behind ingenious double-hinged doors by Dave Munkittrick I love my new 36-in. TV but my wife hates what the glass and plastic monolith does to the look and feel of our family room. To avoid marital strife we went looking for something to house the behemoth. No luck. Sounds like…

Home Theater Modular construction and a knockdown TV cabinet allow this home theater to be built even in a small shop. By Dave Munkittrick At first glance, a project of this scale may seem impossible for anyone other than a professional with all the tools and plenty of room. But take a closer look. The…

Walnut Entertainment Center A 19th-century wardrobe fills a 21st-century need   An antique wardrobe from a 19th-century German settlement in Iowa was the inspiration for this piece. Its most striking element is a radiused cove that gently curves around the corners giving it an air of stately elegance. Its structure is simple yet solid and…

When it comes to slouchy comfort, there are few chairs that answer that call better than the Morris chair. But when it’s 70 degrees, the sun is shining and you just want to get out of the house, you need a special Morris chair. An all-weather Morris chair. Say no more! This is the newly-updated…

Weave Traditional Chair Seats Traditional techniques and modern materials produce attractive, durable results. by Tim Johnson Visit any antique or second-hand furniture store and you’ll find great old chairs—such as these solid cherry ladderbacks—that are bargain priced because their woven seats have worn out. In fact, any chair with round rails or dowels used to…

This is a model of a set of stacking bookcases featured as the “I Can Do That” project in the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Project design, construction and SketchUp model by executive editor Robert W. Lang.

  Café Table Transform rugged Australian jarrah into a graceful outdoor table. by Tom Caspar Picture yourself at a small, round café table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. The world goes by along a busy boulevard. People are hurrying about their business, but you’re an island of calm in a crazy world….

Those of you who’ve been reading our Editors’ Blog for more than a week or so know that I like cats (3.75 of ’em in my house). And books (thousands). So, when a Facebook friend posted this video on my “wall,” I immediately went in search of more information. This may well be the most…

This is straight from André Roubo’s “L’Art Du Menuisier” in the section on oscillating spindle sanders. True, the spindle sander shown in plate 322 is treadle-powered, and the menuisiers shown are wearing frilly shirts and tights, but other than that, it’s stone-cold André. When I make arm bows for chairs, I struggle with getting the…

I must get off my hinder and start beavering on these two Welsh stick chairs I’m making for a friend. The arm bows are bent, the seats are glued up and…that’s all I got. Until this moment, the excuse for my lethargy was that I was waiting for the arm bows to dry while they…

This is a model of a reproduction Gustav Stickley side table.

This is a model of a knock-down bookcase.

This small Shaker style table is perfect as an end table or as a nightstand.

Grand Walnut Bookcase Rich Walnut, elegant details and secret storage in a design that’s fast and straight forward to build by Randy Johnson Sometimes a new piece of furniture conjures up images from a distant time and place. This bookcase, I imagine, would fit right into an early 20th-century lawyer’s office, filled with leather-bound volumes…

I’ve been working on a coffee table build for what seems like years. Now that I’m in the closing stages, I went back to look at the first photos I took; that was in mid-October of last year. But I’m finally nearing the end of the project. The drawers are finished and fit; the top…

For years I owned pick-up trucks or SUVs so I could move wood and projects around town with ease. But I never liked their poor gas mileage. Oh who am I kidding; pickups don’t go fast enough for me, or have a decent sport suspension. Now I drive a two-door Acura RSX (yes, it’s the…

Today we’re taking the cover photo for the June 2011 issue, stacking bookcases based on the reproductions at Monticello. Last night, these bookcases were loaded up with about half of my woodworking library. (Yup, half. That’s my kids’ inheritance.) Today we spent the morning removing many of my woodworking books and replacing them with books…

This morning Chuck Bender from Acanthus Workshop stopped by the office on his way to deliver a piece of furniture to a client outside Cincinnati. After the traditional 15 minutes of Glen D. Huey and Chuck exchanging pastries (it’s Chuck’s birthday) and giving each other a rash of crap, Chuck let us have a little…

Turned Post Bed By Tim Johnson Here’s how to maintain a positive attitude the next time you hear the phrase “Honey, would you please make the bed?”  Forget about the sheets and pillowcases. Head down to the workshop, glue up some timbers and make this bed! It’s a big project that’ll wear you out, but…

How to build a four-board bench that can be used almost anywhere.

Contemporary Bookcase Fresh, clean lines, simple, strong construction, and a design you can modify to fit any room. By Randy Johnson The credo of many great 20th century architects was “Form Follows Function.” And for this bookcase, it certainly does. The strong shelves are supported in a straightforward fashion by equally strong uprights. No decoration, no superfluous details,…

The invention of the table is a great idea. The first person to realize that stuff could be put at their fingertips, rather than having to bend over to retrieve it, probably had a sore back and knew there had to be a better way. Also, sitting on the ground to eat was getting old,…

Arts & Crafts furniture builders offered a decent variety of pieces at the beginning of the 1900’s, but coffee tables weren’t on the list. But if Frank Lloyd Wright had given it a try, we think it might look like this.

Tapered legs lighten the look and add ‘spring’ to a table’s design. You can create tapered legs using your jig saw.

With only pre-cut lumber from the home center store and basic joinery, you can be sitting pretty in no time at all.

To make the rabbets on which the glasses of the upper doors will rest on, I’ll be using this rabbeting bit. The bearing will follow the lower shoulder of the groove while the cutters will cut the upper shoulder to form the rabbets.     Standard bits cut 3/8’’ wide by 1/2’’ deep rabbets. Since…

All the rails being cut, now let’s fine tune them.     I fine tune each tenon with this small shopmade tool that I call Poor Man Shoulder Plane. To learn more about this tool, clic here.     The expected result is a joint that dry, supports itself.     The dry assembly and the…

After making the groove on the first rail I think about adding a featherboard to keep workpieces against the rip fence to obtain consistency on the grooves and the shoulders.     Here are the completed on the four rails and the four stiles.     I’m glad about the fact that I thought of…

  This is a first sanding session of the rails and the stiles. At this step I can make it easier by clamping them. As shown, I align them with a mallet and a block of wood.     The pad prevents from any slipping and I sand using 100-grit to 150-grit sandpaper for now….

  Finally, the construction of the hutch’s glass doors. To cut long boards on a tablesaw, the panel cutter is the safest. And if it’s well made, the cut wil be very precise and square.     The blade must be raised so one full tooth will protrude from the workpiece.     I start…

Last week we offered free plans for the Skansen Bench I built for the April 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. If you didn’t hear about this, it’s likely because you don’t subscribe to our free weekly newsletter. You can correct that oversight here. In any case, this bench was tremendous fun to build. It…

Walnut Wall Shelves Versatile go-anywhere shelves to hold books, discs, kitchenware, or anything you want! By Jon Stumbras Never enough shelf space where you want it? This little shelf is a great way to add extra storage in just about any room. It’s compact—only 22-3/4-in. wide by 31-1/4-in. tall by 9-1/4-in. deep. Yet it’s tall…

  One last molding to mill. I install this ogee bit in the router table and I align the fence barely in front of the bearing. Used in the router table, the bearing should not touch the workpiece. Since the expected life of bearings counts in hours, ideally the bearing should be temporarily removed. It…

Based on a Swedish antique, this bench uses through-tenons made with just a jigsaw.

  Now let’s mill the edges of the top shelves. I install a 3/8’’ roundover bit in the router table.     As usual, I proceed with test cuts. If you look closely on the photo you will see that I must readjust the height of the router bit to get rid of this disgracious…

I roughly cut the top shelves of the hutches.       I’m ripping strips to make the moldings to fill the underside of the top shelves. To stay on the safe side for the router table, I rip them wider than required.         I install a 1/2’’ roundover bit in the…

  To give a decorative touch, I’m installing on the router a flush trim bit which has a fine V tip.     I align the V tip with the joint between the uprights and the face frame. The bearing riding against the uprights will assure uniformity.     To prevent any tipping on the…

  To proceed gluing the face frames, I raise the casings on these shopmade I-beams. Doing so, I’ll be able to slip the clamps under the casings.     I spread a moderate amount of glue and insert the biscuits.     As shown, I proceed with one hutch at a time. The glue sets…

Stowaway Bench This bench will fit in any entryway, and store your umbrella and gloves too! By Jon Stumbras This country-style bench will cut the clutter by the door and serve as a resting spot to put on your shoes. The lid opens up to reveal a handy storage area. At only 11-in. wide by…