Tool: Card Scraper and Dual-Handle Burnishers Shop Now   Manufacturer: Blue Spruce Toolworks MSRP: $21.99 The very first hand tool that I ever purchased was a set of Lie-Nielsen card scrapers back when I was taking high-school shop. Boy, did I think I was hot stuff with those fancy scrapers. And to this day, I…

An ancient European tool that still has a place in the modern American shop. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Why should you own a bowsaw? Why not? You have many other tools that you use only when you need them. Seriously, if you make 18th-century-style…

My son is seven years old, and so far, I have tried to refrain from proselytizing woodworking to him. My hypothesis, at least for now, is that the love for woodworking should come naturally and be cultivated with joy. So when Asher visited my one-car garage shop a few weeks ago and asked me if…

Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Popular Woodworking gift guide! This year we’re featuring a ton of great gifts for woodworkers, no matter what skill level they’re at. Know your price point? Jump right in below, or keep scrolling if you’re just browsing for ideas. $30 and under • $30 to $100 • $100…

A notched batten is one of the best jigs you can make to help in hand planning. This simple thin hardwood strip has a hoof-shaped notch at its end and is used to prevent boards from shifting during planing. The way it works is pretty simple. First, tuck your board against the bench’s planing stop,…

This versatile hand tool should be every woodworker’s first plane purchase. As a “professional woodworker” I often get asked what’s the best bang-for-the-buck tool by people getting into this craft. My response is always to ask if they have a good quality block plane. I know, it’s not the big, awesome aircraft carrier-like jointer plane….

Chris Schwarz demonstrates how to prep rough stock in this classic Popular Woodworking video.

These five specialty chisels will be the perfect compliment to your bench chisels. The amount of woodworkers that I meet that don’t have a good set of chisels nearly floors me. With the work I do, I couldn’t survive without my sharp set of bench chisels. Between fine-tuning joints, paring waste, and cleaning up problem…

No matter what your style of woodworking, you need a basic set of hand tools. Here’s where to begin. When I came to America, I had a lovely wife, two suitcases and 50 bucks. Oh man, where do I start? Everybody needs a basic tool kit, especially if you want to do woodworking. I had…

Five years ago, I wrote a blog entry about the brass mallets I use for joinery. I mentioned the Canadian-made Veritas Mallet, a compact tool that weighs 17.6 oz (500gr) and costs $39, and a Taiwanese-made mallet heavier than the Veritas and weighed 23 oz (653gr). I bought the Taiwanese mallet for our school’s woodworking…

In Conversation with Plane Maker Karl Holtey. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. In 2015, acclaimed hand plane maker Karl Holtey announced his impending retirement and was working on the 984 panel plane: what he intended to be his final production run of hand planes and…

To conclude this series of entries about lapping/flattening the soles of metal planes (read them here #1, #2, #3, #4), I wish to share some information about the precision tools I use.  The difference between Straight Edges and Rules The primary tool I mentioned throughout this series was the straight edge. I use it to…

Meet Reid Schwartz: artist, interested human, maker of tools, worker of wood and restorer of old things Crooked Knives & Curved Lines A canoe is a study in curved lines. The curves allow it to slip silently through water almost without effort. Even the few parts that are straight, like thwarts (cross braces), are rounded…

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The #8 Record plane I bought a few years ago was the most prominent, heaviest, and the longest plane I have ever lapped; it was also a plane for which I devised a lapping system that speeded up the process significantly. Although made by a prominent British…

Cutting your own dovetails is a right of passage for many woodworkers. Many out there find it intimidating when they first start though. Here are a few techniques that will help you out (or help you improve the skills you already have). 1. Cut By Hand When dovetailing by hand, be bold. Don’t bother with…

In previous entries, I explained how to lap short-bodied planes using diamond stones and sandpaper rolls (click to read parts 1 and 2.).  This entry is dedicated to lapping larger planes and explaining how to avoid inadvertent convexing of the sole while lapping it.  When dealing with longer and broader planes, we have to spend…

A single length of framing lumber will help you hone your skills with a spokeshave, a drawknife and a block plane. It was a bright summer’s day in 1993 at historic Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, N.H. My wife, Sally, and I were unexpectedly in town and noticed a craft show and demonstrations on the green….

Tools solve problems in wood. Hand tools bought just to collect do not serve you well. But tools bought when you need them will serve many projects to come. Don’t hesitate to buy a good hand tool suitable to the task. The tools mentioned here actually stand a chance of being useful in the hands…

Chris Schwarz shares some handy, nearly-forgotten handsaw tricks to use in the shop.

Last week I talked about the diamond stone technique for lapping the soles of small block planes. This week I will talk about another popular method – using abrasive tapes over a flat surface.  Sometimes the condition of the plane’s sole is so bad that it requires a more aggressive approach than even the course…

It sure is cute – but is it useful? Few tools spark the affection of so many as the Stanley No. 1 size bench plane. Regardless of one’s interest, the small plane has a way of catching everyone’s eye. Set one on a table at a tool show and nearly everyone who walks by will…

Much has been written about the importance of a true and flat plane sole as a key to achieving optimal results during planning. Premium planes come with a very flat sole, do not need any interventions, and are ready for work straight out of the box. Unfortunately, this is not the case with second-hand tools…

Hand tools are the way to go for this traditional joint. Tapered sliding dovetails are multipurpose joints traditionally used for drawer dividers, holding legs in place on a pedestal table and attaching tops to case pieces. The primary reason for a tapered joint (instead of a straight joint) is the reduced friction over its length….

When we think about modern woodworking, gimlets are probably not on our radar and most likely would not make the cut for the short (or even the longer) list of essentials when we envision a shop that is centered around hand tools.  While they are fondly remembered as tools of the past, for drilling shallow…

Nothing in handplaning is more frustrating than tear-out

One of the most exciting new tools that my students and I got to try and use this year was the 6 Piece Bushcraft Survival Auger Kit with T-Handle and 5 Auger Bits in Tool Roll from WoodOwl. The new tool (practically it is a nice brass and wood handle) allows you to employ your…

Tool: 30oz Dead Blow Hammer Shop Now  Manufacturer: Lixie MSRP:$68 Well-fit joinery (not too loose, not too tight) and well-planned glue-ups rarely need much persuasion – but I am not always lucky enough to find myself with either of those. In the past, I’ve used big rubber mallets, small sledges and framing hammers (with a…

Tool: D8 Hand Saw Shop Now  Manufacturer: Bad Axe Toolworks MSRP:$395+ Making a good handsaw is difficult; making great handsaws at a production level seems darned near impossible. The D8 handsaws (based on the Disston D8 and Simonds No. 72) from Bad Axe Tool Works somehow invoke all of the best things about the golden…

Practical solutions to common plane problems. When a plane is working right, it can produce a silky-smooth surface that absolutely glistens. When it doesn’t work, you get an ugly surface covered with blemishes. The problem can be your sharpening, your technique, or the plane itself. Quite often, it’s the plane. These troubleshooting tips should go…

For the cost of one large piece of machinery, you can set up a complete shop with hand tools. Here’s what you need to get started.

The right techniques and tools (plus a few tricks) will give you a good start on mastering this fine traditional joint. Dovetails have long been recognized as the premier joint for casework and drawers – and for good reason. They’re the strongest way to join the corners of a box, and they look great. However,…

This kitchen workhorse presents a surprising and rewarding challenge. A wooden spoon – you can get one for a dollar in many places. It’s just a stick with a hollow shaped at one end. Why go to any bother over such a thing? Use them to stir sauces, dole out rice and beans, then forget…

Once you understand the anatomy of a handplane, you’ll be well on your way to using it with success. [View the full-size exploded view of a handplane here] Handplanes are the king of woodworking tools in that they are the most versatile tool in a shop. They do so many varied jobs, that the more…

Tool: Birdcage Awl Shop Now  Manufacturer: Shenandoah Toolworks MSRP: $59.99 If you’re in the market for a birdcage awl, this Shenandoah Tool Works version offers a stylish twist – that is, the hand-forged 01 steel shaft is actually twisted during manufacturing. While this aesthetic touch has no effect on performance, it looks nice – and…

The truss system of the spine looks curious, but it works gangbusters. Tool: 5″ Titanium Birdcage Fret Saw Shop Now  Manufacturer: Knew Concepts MSRP: $235 (includes saw and Pegas #7 skip tooth woodworking blade) The crazy design of this titanium 5″ woodworker’s fretsaw from Knew Concepts is, I think it’s fair to say, the first…

Tool: 8″ Drawknife Shop Now  Manufacturer: Ray Iles MSRP: $88.45 In October of 2017, I took a chairmaking class with Larry Barrett, a student of Jennie Alexander’s who has built on the beautiful designs and methods used in the Alexander-style ladderback chair. When I was looking through my tool kit in preparation for the class,…

In our latest video, we’re comparing water stones, oil stones, and diamond stones. Get a basic overview, then learn the pros and cons of each sharpening method. Click here for more articles about sharpening.

These once-standard tools still have a place in the modern shop. Here’s what you need to know about the use, care and keeping of drawknives and spokeshaves.

I use hand planes quite a lot and give each one a special role to play. My ensemble of metal planes includes long and short, wide and narrow, expensive, but also dirt cheap eBay bought and later restored by me. As a rule of thumb, the broader the surface you need to plane is, the…

The single most important hand-tool appliance is 3 sticks of wood. Owning a backsaw without owning a bench hook is like riding a bicycle without handlebars. This simple hand-tool appliance (three sticks of wood) uses the force of the tool and gravity to hold your work as you saw. And it helps guide your tool…

When I teach beginners, one of the most common phrases I hear is, “I cannot get this (insert tool name) to work. What’s wrong?” They hand the tool to me and the fun begins. Though block planes are dirt-simple handplanes, there are some important points about them that are rarely discussed in the literature. Here…

Armed with a little trickery, you can make the block plane perform a wide variety of tasks. Hang around enough woodshops (or Internet discussion groups) with a block plane in your hand and you’ll eventually be derided for owning a “carpenter’s tool.” It’s a criticism that I’ve never understood. Small trimming planes – no matter…

Grab your torch and pitchfork; the hand-tool guy has a table saw. Editor’s note: this article appeared in the November 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking People react with shock and horror when they learn I have electric machinery in my Kentucky workshop. After all, I’ve been writing almost exclusively about handwork for almost 20 years…

Tool: Veritas Side-Clamping Honing Guide Shop Now  Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $39.50 When I saw that Lee Valley has release two new honing guides last month I knew that I have to give them a try. I love honing guides and I have quite a few. My favorite guide designs are offspring from the original Eclipse style….

While most newly-purchased chisels are supplied together with their integral guard, any vintage tool, mortise chisels, corner chisels, and all gouges do not come with such protection.  A few years ago I wrote about a technique to protect the edges of your chisels and gouges using cardboard and rope to make a tailored-made guard. But…

Tool: Nx60 Shop Now  and DX60 Shop Now  Manufacturer: Lee Valley MSRP: $209+ These low-angle block planes from Lee Valley are beautiful marriages of fine art and sound engineering. Under each shiny, streamlined exterior lies a very serious tool-one that should please even the most demanding woodworker. The NX60 (above) and DX60 (below) are part of…

Tool: Small Scraping Plane Buy Now  Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $139 Sometimes a wood’s grain direction is so unruly that planing just gets you in trouble–tearout is inevitable. Faced with this situation, the hand tool to pick up is a scraper. A card scraper is fine for small areas, but to avoid ripples or hollows, you’re better off…

Hand Tool Starter Kit Tool: 45th Anniversary Set of Three Woodworking Tools Buy Now Manufacturer: Garrett Wade MSRP: $253 For a long time, there were really only a couple options to get started using planes and other hand tools: shell out big bucks for new, premium-quality tools that are ready to cut out of the box or…

Modern hand planes continue to be popular, and this low-angle block plane excels at trimming tenons, rabbets, and end grain. Tool: Skew Block Plane Buy Now Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $229 When you pick up the Veritas Skew Block Plane, you’ll notice that the blade is skewed at 15°, side to side. When using a regular plane,…

Planing the edge of a long board perpendicular to its face is a real challenge. To make the job easier, I built a guide that attaches to the side of my plane with rare earth magnets. Now jointing an edge is much easier. I simply alter my grip to take full advantage of the square-cornered…

Building this handmade saw cabinet employs vital hand tool techniques with an emphasis on dovetail, dado and mortise and tenon joinery.

Tool: Universal Handsaw [Buy Now]  Manufacturer: Irwin MSRP: $18.99 You’re at the lumberyard, trying to fit a 10-ft. cherry board into your hatchback. It’s OK to cut it in two, but with what? Most woodworkers would naturally think of a power tool, but truth be told, a good handsaw will do the job almost as fast. The…

Anyone who has tried the Japanese-made WoodOwl Tri-Cut drill bits knows how great they are. These bits (read Chris Schwarz endorsement here) cut fast and clean, clear the chips efficiently, and stay sharp for a very long time. The WoodOwl Tri-Cut drill bit digs and pulls itself into the wood via a snail screw, and…

In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for 2020. Here are some of our favorite tools and products we discovered over the last year. Supercell Dust Collector – [Buy…

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.

While design is dominated by the eye, the hand plays an important role. Most of what I’ve written about design has focused on how we look at it. Yet good design often has multiple layers that speak to all of our senses. We tend to think of the visual sense as the dominant player, but…

From the Middle Ages until the dawn of the 20th century, wooden planes were the dominant bench plane form in the Western world. But when I started woodworking (in the hand-tool dark ages of the late 20th century), this traditional form seemed practically extinct. As I became interested in planemaking, I found plenty of information…

After talking about the look and feel of the new Richter Chisel (including its test companion the Stanly #750) and last week’s entry on how I sharpened them, we have finally reached the finale of this three-part saga – the actual slicing duel.  Test methodology Bench chisels are meant mainly for sheering wood fibers, either…

After my initial inspection of both the Narex-Richter and the Stanley 750 chisels, I was ready for the sharpening process. Before sharpening a new blade I like to check the back for flatness with a small precision square or a knife-edge straight edge. This gives me an indication of whether the back is convex or…

Many new chisels, especially most premium-quality chisels, have sharp lands (the beveled side edges). Some people wear cotton gloves to protect their hands when using these, but I don’t like the loss of feel and sensitivity with gloves. So I came up with a simple solution to avoid getting cut by these edges. I cut…

In late January Narex, the reputable Czech hand tool manufacturer sent me a box that contained three chisels for review. The sturdy but old fashioned stapled together gray cardboard box held three sleek jet black capsules that contained the new Richter line of bench chisels. It took me a few months and now I am…

Make these French moulding planes that are essential for every hand-tool kit. Hollows and rounds are making a strong comeback in the hand tool woodworking world. However, many woodworkers are scared off from jumping in by either a limited tool budget or the limited availability of antique ones in good condition. Don’t let that hold…

The best rationale for these ultra high-end tools might not be what you think. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the December 2015 issue of Popular Woodworking Over the past decade, I’ve made somewhere approaching a couple hundred custom handplanes, both for my own enjoyment and (since 2010) as my full-time occupation. I’d like…

When I was a kid, the first saw I bought was a Craftsman coping saw with a chrome frame and red-stained handle. For years I did everything with that saw – crosscuts, rips, curves and even joints. But I made none of those cuts particularly well. Part of the problem was that I was 11…

Just keep saying ‘micron.’ Woodworkers who use hand tools to lay the quality touch on their work know what can be accomplished with these wonderful inventions. Along with skill, supplied of course by you, a good hand tool is an exquisite blend of simplicity and sophistication that is capable of sweetening your work well beyond…

Learn the techniques to carve this traditional flowing drapery design. Backpacking across Europe as a college student, I experienced the awe-inspiring splendor of magnificent cathedrals and castles. I took every opportunity I could to visit these buildings, and I was afraid to blink for fear of missing some intricate and important detail; I just could…

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…

Custom-fit your tools to your hand. One of the best uses for a lathe is making tool handles. Most production tool handles leave something to be desired. The good news is that the handle is the part of tool that is the easiest to modify. Fine gloves are sold in sizes such as 6, 7,…

We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations. An exercise in dowel-making without a lathe During my formative years as a woodworker my instructor, Werner Duerr, taught many lessons both subtle and gross. Sometimes it wasn’t until years later that I learned the benefit. Toward…

  From 1977-1983 I made my living as a studio furniture designer and maker. In addition to making furniture, I found most of the hand tools available at the time so uninspiring and inconsistent with the craftsmanship values I was trying to impart in my furniture, that I made my own. The roots of my…

In my job as a woodworking teacher I do not only have command over the pedagogical content of our program, but also on the daily maintenance tasks of tool sharpening and general shop upkeep. Some of our tools, and especially the gouges, see heavy use that requires me to sharpen them quite often. If possible…

Tool: Veritas Butt Chisels Manufacturer: Veritas Price: Starting at $70 Butt chisels have shorter blades than bench chisels and are generally made in wider sizes. They’re typically used for efficiently wasting out large areas, such as the mortises for installing butt hinges. These new butt chisels from Veritas’ are beautifully made and a pleasure to use. Though…

From the Editors and Contributors In an effort to inform our readers about the latest and greatest, Popular Woodworking has surveyed the rich landscape of tools and equipment available and made our picks of woodworking tools of note for 2019. Here’s our top ten, plus one tool storage accessory thrown in for good measure. Auto-Jig…

Whenever we visit our friends in Toronto, I always make sure to stop by at least one of the three Lee Valley stores in town. This month as we headed North I came up with a really good excuse to jump on the streetcar to visit the downtown Toronto store: I wanted to look at…

Using digital tools, you can make this handy tool tote in less than an hour. Learn how to build and customize your own tote.

Yoav Liberman demonstrates how to hone and sharpen the new spoon bits from Gramercy Tools. Learn how to keep your spoon bits sharp and effective.

Spoon bits are meant to bore wood with the help of a brace drill. Join Yoav Liberman as he puts the new spoon bits by NYC’s Gramercy Tools to the test.

Bench planes come in a wide range of lengths and widths. Do you need them all? Which ones are most useful? And if you only had to buy one….

“I was looking for a tool tote to set beside my shave horse when doing demos with the SCA East Kingdom Foresters Guild. I attached the cover with hinges and added tool slots for use when working. Chisels store in till when traveling.” –Bill Childs

This is an excerpt from The New Traditional Woodworker by Jim Tolpin. In traditional Western-style woodworking, the workbench was central to nearly all the woodworking processes. This is where the artisan planed surfaces and trued edges; ripped and crosscut short lengths of stock to size (with smaller-sized panel saws or bow saws); made precision cuts…

Chris Schwarz shares a dovetailing method perfect for beginners. This method helps build good habits when sawing and helps you fix any mistakes.

Shop organization is likely a recurring topic throughout anyone’s woodworking career. That’s why we devoted several articles to the topic in our Woodworking Essentials column in Popular Woodworking Magazine back in 2007. The column has returned as a new book compiling those articles into one handy volume, “Woodworking Essentials: Timeless Techniques for Woodworkers.” While some of…

Buying tools from antique sellers or junk dealers is always a gamble. Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re out and about hunting rust.

Traditionally, installing a planing stop on your bench involves a big square mortise and a recess for the stop to lay flush with the top when it’s not in use. I didn’t want to modify my bench that much, which is why the BT&C planing stop caught my eye.

Getting a mirror finish on the contoured profiles of carving gouges can be a real hassle. Fortunately, making a custom gouge strop is easy.

I have seen students try to unclog planes with steel rulers, paint brushes, even nails and screws. Enter the Simplest of Tips, ever.

Three years ago while teaching a woodworking class at Peters Valley I met Blacksmith Eric Dennis, who was at the time the studio assistant in the iron shop. When I entered the noisy, coal-smoky, old building, Eric was in the middle of forging some impressive looking tool. Coincidentally, that very summer I was trying to…

A while ago I blogged about a Breast Drill that I bought on eBay and restored. I also mentioned that it is hard to find a good quality drills with concealed gears on the market today. After I wrote the blog I found a supplier of drills who held (and still does) a few tools…

For an upcoming “Tool Test” in the February 2018 (#237) issue of the magazine, I reviewed the Lixie Dead Blow Mallet (the 30 ounce version, with 1 1/2″ diameter heads). While we’ll post the full mallet test when the magazine hits newsstands, we wanted to take the time first (before writing the review) to put…

I know, I’m getting older and turning into one of those guys who watches the History Channel way too much, but I’ve found that there’s some pretty good woodworking to be learned from history. Crown moulding is one task that many of us grumble about. It is almost impossible to remember which way to place…

You don’t have to own a lathe to make replacement handles that will feel like an extension of your hand. by Roger Holmes pgs. 84-88 From the February 2002 issue #126 Buy the issue now A few months ago I had to face the unpleasant truth about my chisels. Given to me years ago by…

As an editor, my work involves poring over woodworking books. And as guy who’s trying to learn a bit of woodworking and build a few things in my spare time, that’s not a bad way to spend the workday. In addition to the books I develop for Popular Woodworking, I also look through our library…

I have a confession to make. I am not a hand-tool woodworker…but I want to be. I have been around only power tools for most of my life. I worked for a contractor through college. The only hand tools we used in my shop class were a rasp and file. The furniture business that I worked for…

Read Part 1 Here After the terraced rhombus was formed, it was time to start coving. The required radius for the coves, as dictated from the original handle was 1”.  But, since the only round plane I have produces a cove of about 1-1/2”, I had to also rely on gouges, a 1” radius scraper and…

Read Part 2 Here The dresser A few months ago I received an email form a person who wanted to know if I could build two walnut handles for a Mid-Century walnut dresser that she cherished. She reported that she and her husband purchased the piece 48 years ago when they got married and that it…

In “Choosing, Refurbishing & Using Moulding Planes”, Bill walks you through the classifications of moulding planes, discusses what to look for when shopping and then takes you step-by-step through the process to bring the iron back to cutting shape (and how to make a new iron if it’s missing).

Woodworking author and instructor Tom Fidgen is the mastermind behind the Unplugged Woodshop web site, the online hand tool woodworking school An Unplugged Life, and author of two bestselling books: “Made by Hand” (currently available at ShopWoodworking.com) and “The Unplugged Woodshop” (Taunton). He teaches woodworking with hand tools internationally. This September Fidgen will be teaching at Woodworking In America….

4 Hand Tools for Stringing Find out more about using hand tools to make stringing inlay. Stringing reached its peak as an art form way back in the late 18th century, long before power tools. In those days, both the grooves and the strips were made by hand with great precision. You can use those…

Let me be honest: I do know how to use a handplane, and I have used a jointer plane once or twice. But it was a metal-bodied plane – only remotely similar to a wooden-bodied plane as used during the 18th century. I liked the feel of the plane, and its long body made sense…

It goes without saying that there is a renewed interest in hand tool woodworking, and much has been written on the topic, and that’s great because there really is a lot to know about these tools that are “new” to many woodworkers. That said, my experience with hand tools has taught me one thing –…

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 of a project until you are knee-deep in the next step. That’s when you realize you didn’t fuss enough…

Tomorrow, we’re shooting a cover for a new (and updated) edition of Michael Dunbar’s venerable book, “Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic Woodworking Tools” (due out from Popular Woodworking Books later this year). So I was asked to go through the boxes of tools I inherited from my grandfather to find some suitable candidates for the…

As editors, we search our two web sites (popularwoodworking.com and shopwoodworking.com) constantly for information for the online extras portion of all  articles and most columns – the information, we hope, is both relevant and interesting. While searching the sites, I often come across books, articles and DVDs that have scads of interesting information, including tips…

Woodworking in America is just a week away, so it’s best if you register for the conference (great woodworking information), or purchase your ticket for the marketplace (great tools) right away. For the editors of Popular Woodworking Magazine, this means we are all head-deep into preparation for our sessions, getting setups ready and dragging the…

This week I was in the shop working on an upcoming magazine article. On the case back there are two dados that locate and hold the drawer dividers of the project. For me, that generally means I pick up my router and get busy. This time, because I needed two matching slots, I decided one…

For the April 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, we tested the new Hock Tools scratch stock – you can find that full tool test free online by clicking here. The video below shows you how to use this simple tool (with the note that you can also clamp your workpiece in place).   —…

Tool snobs beware: This post is about an inexpensive tool that is useful for woodworking and without an ounce of style or charm. In the cabinet industry, plastic laminate files are used for filing the edges of plastic laminate after trimming with a router. In that world, they are a consumable item and are purchased…

I don’t generally think of power tools in the same reverential, (perhaps) overly romanticized tones that come to mind when I consider hand tools. I can stare at my grandfather’s 8 oz. Kentucky Bluegrass claw hammer for hours daydreaming about what may have caused the nicks and wear. Or imagine the unknown maker who’s hands…

I’ve turned hollow mortise chisels into square punches, refashioned chisels and their handles, made a number of scratch stocks, ground steel bar stock into embossing punches and a made a few other quick tools. And I’ve built a few wooden, Krenov-style handplanes over the years – I had a fine time and wound up with…

Woodworking really is simple, despite all attempts to complicate it. Complications introduced by well-meaning folks can keep a beginner away from the enjoyable part: making things. One of the most common questions is “what tools do I need to get started?” and as the would-be woodworker starts reading he soon begins asking, “Which set of…

On behalf of Roy Underhill and the entire Popular Woodworking team, I am delighted to announce that we now have four seasons of Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop” DVDs available to order at ShopWoodworking.com (and we’ll soon have the streaming video site live): Season One; Season Two; Season Three; and Season 20 (which Roy says…

One of the sure signs of getting old is finding out that the kid who works in the next cubicle never heard of the TV show “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Another sign is remembering something that is taken for granted today was at one time brand spanking new. Our web guy wasn’t even born in 1982…

Those of you at the Lie-Nielsen show in Chicago may have seen me and Christopher Schwarz pestering Jeff Miller to demonstrate his slick tenon jig and mortise jig – the ones about which he’s written for the June 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. If you were one of those who asked me when the…

Another video on sharpening? Ugh! No, wait…this one’s kinda different. In fact, this video isn’t about the cutting edge of the chisel. What?! It’s true. “Chisel Sharpening with Harrelson Stanley” is about the ergonomics of the body and its relationship to the chisel. Japanese tool and sharpening expert Harrelson Stanley discusses how to hold your…

I’m not a hand tool guy. There, I’ve said it. If I can find a way to use a power tool, I will. That said, I, like most woodworkers, do use hand tools on a regular basis. My experience has been that most woodworkers who have an aversion to hand tools (like me) weren’t taught…

From mastering hand tools to router basics, 18th-century joinery to Japanese hand tools and joinery, you’ll find it all among the five new DVD selections now available  to order at ShopWoodworking.com (and four of them are on “pre-sale” which means you save 20 percent if you order before the DVDs arrive in the warehouse). “Handsaws:…

If you read this blog, you are probably interested in hand tools. And if you are at the beginning of your journey, this blog entry is for you. Popular Woodworking Magazine commissioned me to make a series of 10 to-the-point videos about hand tools that try to strip away the confusion so you can get…

Christopher Schwarz and Lucy May are pleased to announce the newest addition to their family. Length: 18”. Weight: 9 lbs., 4 oz. Birth date: Feb. 15, 2012. Delivered by: Peter Ross, blacksmith and white smith. After more than seven years of searching, I have finally found a bench holdfast that works effortlessly with a French-style…

Anyone who has ever read Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” (1678) has puzzled over his pictures of saws. There are some frame saws, a whipsaw and a fancy handled saw without a back that Moxon, as far as I know, doesn’t discuss in his text. That fancy saw has always caught my eye. What was it…

Last year when we moved the crates for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event into our former shop, it was a half-hour production with a lot of grunting, sweating and jerry-rigging to get the 3,000+ pounds of Lie-Nielsen goodies off the truck, through inconveniently narrow gates to the “loading dock” outside our doors, over the annoyingly…

Wrapping up the last details on a piece I’ve been building for the April issue, I had a nice surprise last weekend: Stealing away a few minutes while my kids took a nap (or a least pretended to), I headed out to the shop, grabbed an old carving knife and started experimenting with a piece…

Here’s a great gift idea for the woodworker who has everything – skew chisels!

Even though I build a lot of straight line  Arts & Crafts style furniture, one of my favorite tasks in woodworking is shaping an irregularly curved surface. It adds life and interest and I find it entertaining to find a gentle curve that works with the grain for looks and the hand for feel. There…

Precision cutting with a hand-held circular saw. by Nick Engler I’d like to know who it was that decided that plywood was best sold in 4-foot by 8-foot sheets. I’ve always thought that it was a practical joke in questionable taste to take such a wonderfully useful woodworking material and manufacture it in sheets that…

“The Joinery Challenge,” a new DVD from Ron Herman, is now available for pre-order at ShopWoodworking.com (and on sale for $5 off the regular price through the end of June). This exercise is one Ron had to pass when he was in his apprenticeship on his way to becoming a journeyman housewright (he’s now a…

After hours and hours and hours of work (please, some kind soul, send Vodka), I was finally able to get “Handplane Essentials,” by Christopher Schwarz, into a PDF format that plays nice with all PDF-equipped eReaders. The Boring Stuff This is more information that you no doubt want, but the problem seems to be that…

This is a model of a small block of wood used to practice layout and joinery.

Megan Fitzpatrick and I drove up to Columbus, Ohio, last Thursday with Al Parrish, our staff photographer. We visited Ron Herman at the shop for his business, Antiquity Builders of Ohio. Ron had recently shot a couple of videos for us; one on sharpening saws and one on a joinery exercise. He’s working on an…

Fridays are fun, but it’s Saturday at a woodworking event – such as this weekend’s Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event held at the offices of Popular Woodworking Magazine – when you can get a better glimpse into the future of woodworking. You may see new tools on display for the first time, which tools are getting…

Jim Tolpin’s newest book, “The New Traditional Woodworker” teaches the reader how to work with hand tools by using them to build useful bench and shop tools. Each project builds on the skill learned in the preceding chapter. This process makes for an easy and fun learning curve. One of the more attractive project tools…

If you’re interested in learning to cut dovetails by hand, boy do you have choices. Google hand-cut dovetail videos and the returns total more than 100,000 (no, I didn’t count them). Yesterday I watched Rob Cosman’s second DVD on dovetails, hence the name “Hand-cut Dovetails 2.0.” It’s been 10 years since his first dovetail video….

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 pleasant surprise to see the finished product. I’m proud of this one! Beyond the fact that Jim has put together an excellent teaching platform for…

Several readers have asked how to go about squaring up the two legs of the English Layout Square from the December 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Do you square it up before assembly? After? What tools do you use to make it square? How do I determine if the square is indeed square? Why…

Cutting joinery by hand isn’t a romantic journey to the charms of bygone days. For me, it’s a way to obtain better results in less time. I got tired of fiddling with table saw setups and making test cuts. I didn’t like dealing with cuts that were sometimes great and sometimes had a ragged edge…

If there were an award for the most words per board foot in writing about woodworking, I believe that this series of posts about the Gottshall block would win. And if there were an award for the most harassment per board foot, my coworkers would win. At our weekly meeting this morning I announced that…

Time for a show of hands. Have you ever said, “I can’t cut curves because I don’t have a band saw, a jig saw or an oscillating spindle sander?” If so, here’s a solution that involves an unsung hero of the hand-tool world, the coping saw. Coping saws offer a tremendous bang for your buck….

Here’s my theory: if you get good using one tool, learning the next tool you pick up will be easier. Good woodworkers connect a piece of wood on the bench and their brain through their hands and the tools in their hands. Learn how to make that connection and you will easily pick up new…

Working on this little block has been an interesting experience, and I hope you’ll give it a try. Explaining it on the blog has made me think about a lot of basic things that have become habit over the years. The Gottshall block is a hand tool education, and one of the lessons is that…

One of the greatest moments in marketing history was the mass adoption of power tools following World War II. Before then, the standard thinking was that just about anyone could pick up a saw and cut a piece of wood. Within 20 years that notion became an eccentricity. If you want to sell anything to…

When you work with power tools, machine set up is everything. The quality of your joinery, and your entire project is based on your level of accuracy at that stage. With hand tools, layout is everything. You can’t depend on your table saw’s fence to make certain that every cut is the same, so how…

One of the things that can overwhelm a beginning woodworker is the sheer number of choices to make about the simplest things. It doesn’t help that there is always someone waiting to tell you that there is a better, faster, easier, or morally superior way to do it. That improved method usually involves a new…

If you’ve taken the bait and are willing to make a Gottshall block, I suggest you ask yourself two questions before you start. What kind of woodworker do you want to be, and how will you know when you get there? There aren’t any right or wrong answers; this is something we do for fun…

In this excerpt from Ron Hock’s book ‘The Perfect Edge’ you’ll learn a fool-proof method to sharpen your chisels to a razor edge.

In early Gustav Stickley pieces, doors with divided lights were joined with mitered mullions. It’s an intriguing look, but was used only for a few years. My next project for the magazine has a divided door, and even though I haven’t been able to find an original example of the piece I’m building with mitered…

There is a T-shirt in the back of my closet with the phrase He Who Dies With The Most Tools Wins. We joke here about our various “problems”, as in “Chris has a saw problem”, and we get nutty some times when we learn about new tools, racing to get our orders in before announcing…

Confusing the Beginners-In Person I don’t make many personal appearances, but next Saturday, October 27, I will be at the Woodcraft store in Roswell, Georgia. I’ll be giving some presentations and hanging around to talk to people. If you’re in the area I hope you’ll find the time to stop by and say hello. A…

I consider myself fortunate to share the Popular Woodworkingshop with two world-class woodworkers , Christopher Schwarz and Glen D. Huey. After many years of working mostly by myself, it’s refreshing to see approaches and techniques that are different from mine yet work just as well, or even better. As an old dog, it’s nice to…