A few weeks ago one of our remarkable 8th grade students approached me during class and with a sad face as he presented two pieces of steel that just a few moments earlier used to be a vintage socket chisel. He remorsefully said that the chisel broke while he was shaping a round tenon at…

I started my woodworking career 40 years ago shaving ladderback chairs based on the methods of Jennie Alexander as outlined in Make a Chair from a Tree. Green wood, split from straight-grained logs, aligns perfectly with drawknife work.

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 few weeks ago Veritas tools (Lee Valley) released their most recent plane. The squirrel-looking plane (there are actually two versions of it: a limited edition stainless steel, and a continuous production cast iron) is by far one of the smallest planes around.

When WoodRiver announced its new socket chisels, I was very intrigued. Price-wise, these chisels fall into the intermediate range – $35-$45 for an individual chisel (depending on size). I picked up a 1⁄2“ chisel and a 3⁄4“ chisel to put through the paces. The chisels are ground from 100 CR-V steel and tempered to a…

Improve your router techniques with these four simple, shop-made router jigs that are easy to use and just as easy to build. I’m a power-tool woodworker. Sure I use hand tools for some parts of furniture building, specifically when cutting dovetails. But I doubt you’ll ever catch me with a Bridge City Tool Works VP-60,…

Wedged through-tenons keep this handle secure. Whether you’re using it for woodworking tools or garden tools, a tote is a simple and quick project. It’s so simple, in fact, that I decided to add a wee degree of difficulty with a curved handle secured in place by wedged through-tenons. And, I wrapped the handle with…

This rolling clamp rack holds about 50 clamps, takes up minimal floor space and can be built in an afternoon. When you’ve got so many clamps that it’s a problem getting them to where the work is being done, build this rolling clamp rack! It holds about 50 clamps, takes up a little more than…

By Christopher Schwarz Swiped from a French engraving, this easy tool rack rack works in your shop or even in your kitchen.   It’s good to keep your tools protected (think: tool chest). But it’s also good to keep them handy (think: at arm’s reach). My favorite way to accomplish both goals is a stout…

  Simple, Sturdy Sawhorse Project By Randy Johnson Here’s one of my favorite sawhorse designs. They provide such stable hard working support that I tend to refer to them as workhorses. I made this pair to serve as the base for a temporary workbench and machine stand. They measure 30″ tall by 24″ long. That’s…

By Jim Stuard This shop cabinet squeezes 13 cubic feet of tool storage into less than 3 square feet of floor space. If you’re like most woodworkers, your shop is packed to the gills with tools, tooling and accessories. Storing power tools on open shelves is no good; dust will get into the windings and…

We recently had a reader, Michael Wygmans, submit their build of the Dust-free Bandsaw article from American Woodworker. This article first appeared in 2004 as a solution to the anemic dust collection on 14″ Delta bandsaws. Michael mentioned that he designed his adapter to be 1 7/8″ wide rather than 1 5/8″ described in the…

I needed to cut long boards on the table saw, but had only a small table for the outfeed and none for the infeed. So I built this handy infeed table using scrap plywood and a sawhorse, both of which I already had on hand. I drilled a hole in the center of the sawhorse…

Push sticks? Yes, that is the topic of today’s blog, and it’s also the answer – Yes! Every woodworker has had a close call (or worse) or knows someone who has. Table saws are dangerous and even the experienced get hurt. But before this devolves into a diatribe about table saw injuries, let’s just agree…

Get some splitting leverage with this simple contraption. by Peter Follansbee Reach for a froe, and you should immediately think, “Give me a brake.” The brake can be a constructed workholding device, or just a couple of logs. Its function is to trap your workpiece in such a way that you can exert leverage on…

What the heck? Why would I want a forge, I’m a woodworker! Ah, but I have had the pleasure of watching a forge in action (very cool, lots of fire and sparks!) for a number of video shoots creating tools and hardware – and it was fascinating! But I kept coming back to the issue…

I have a meager collection of handplanes made up of mostly dog-meat users. I like using planes that have history because it’s fun to think about what each might have made during the last 100 years. None of my planes are particularly nice, but I do want to keep them from getting destroyed. For a…

Make your own copy of this precision vintage tool. by Peter Follansbee from the December 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking Even after two years of working alone, I can still hear the visitors to my museum shop where I worked for 20 years: “My grandpa was a carpenter….” It’s a line I heard a lot….

The “All-in-one Cabinet for the Small Shop” shown here is from the April 2001 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. And although the design looks a bit outdated (which could be easily addressed by simply changing out the handles), we still use this cabinet in our shop. The router-bit drawer in the middle has become our “tape…

Combine power and hand tools to improve your joinery skills. by Thomas J. MacDonald first published in the December 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine Building a toolbox much like this one was a real turning point in my woodworking career. It was 1999 and I had begun classes at Boston’s North Bennet Street School’s…

My shop is large by some standards, small by some, and about average to a lot of woodworkers. It doesn’t matter, it’s all relative. No matter how large your shop, there are always projects that will not fit without careful planning and staging. A perfect case in point is a new section of kitchen base…

Early on a Saturday morning, distinctive telltale sounds that would perk up any woodworker’s ears were wafting down my street. First the short wind-up of an electric motor, then the sound of a blade cutting wood, then a short wind-down and silence. Seconds later, the exact sounds repeated… and then again. I’ve been woodworking long…

Editor’s note: It’s not too late to sign up for  “Super Small Shop Strategies” – login and learn on your own schedule! Years ago, while walking the halls of the offices where I worked I saw Frank at his desk, feet up, chair reclined, gazing out the window. I asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be…

If you’re learning to use a router, it won’t be long before you realize that to get the most out of this tool, you’re going to need a router table. There are some joints and operations you just can’t do without one. Our online router course with Colin Knecht will teach you all about routers and router…

I’ve worked in a 2,000 square-foot professional shop and I now work in a one-car garage shop, and the one thing that’s universal for all shops is that you’ve got to be able to find stuff. Whether it’s the marking gauge that was on the bench just yesterday, or that ogee router bit that is…

Ductwork Online Course Dust collection should be considered a holistic “system,” not just a machine. A good system starts with effective capture of dust at point of generation, includes efficient transport of the chips and dust, and depends on thorough separation and collection of dust and wood chips, leaving only clean air behind. In this…

I can’t deny that I’ve always wanted a large woodshop. Patterned after a professional shop, my large woodshop would include: Space for hundreds of board feet of lumber Dedicated power- and hand-tool workspaces A finishing room My own design area to play with mockups and such Large would be nice. Still, I’m all right with…

Efficiency does not always increase with experience, because as our woodshops grow older, they sometimes become unnecessarily rearranged or cluttered. And if you’re just now setting up your first woodshop, this shop layout should give you a great starting point. Each picture represents one half of a standard two-car garage. Click on the images for…

Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave, you’ve likely heard that print is dead and digital is the new reality. That may be a slight exaggeration as I, for one, still enjoy turning pages. However, there is no doubt that whatever the future holds, we will be consuming information in many new forms – and…

Whether you’re using it for woodworking tools or garden tools, a tote is a simple and quick project. It’s so simple, in fact, that I decided to add a wee degree of difficulty with a curved handle secured in place by wedged through-tenons. And, I wrapped the handle with suede for a more comfortable and secure grip.

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…

Every now and then I get a question from a reader about the tool rack that hangs in the window of our shop behind my workbench. The rack in question was originally made in May 2007 for an article in Issue 8 of Woodworking Magazine. Like most good ideas, it isn’t mine. Chris Schwarz made…

Swiped from a French engraving, this rack works in your shop or even in your kitchen.

By Christopher Schwarz
Pages: 26-27

Simple, Fast, Sturdy Sawhorse Project Here’s one of my favorite sawhorse designs. They provide such stable hard working support that I tend to refer to them as workhorses. I made this pair to serve as the base for a temporary workbench and machine stand. They  measure 30″ tall by 24″ long. That’s not as long…

When you’ve got so many clamps that it’s a problem getting them to where the work is being done, build this rolling clamp rack!

This isn’t the simplest project you’ll ever make ,but it may be one of the most useful. It involves making mortise-and-tenon joinery and raised panels, fitting a drawer to its cabinet, using mechanical drawer slides and setting them up to work in tandem rather than side by side in the usual manner. You’ll make miter…

This is it! The final installment on how to build a deluxe router table.

Router Table Redesign 2nd Installment

This newly redesigned router table is packing tons more storage space and sporting a totally overhauled chasis while retaining its cool running router carriage and dust collection system.

Even with access to a nice table saw, cutting full sheets of plywood can be difficult. Here is an alternate method I like to use to break down sheets to pieces of a more manageable size. It also works well as a way to accurately cut plywood if you don’t have a table saw. I…

Procrastination isn’t always a bad thing. When we last looked at my pile of 2 x 4s the readings from my moisture meter ranged from 10 percent to 18 percent. My reason for using this stuff was price , a “precut” (almost 8′ long piece) cost $2.38 at our local home center. Good price, but…

I’ve been anxious to work with the new Festool Domino, and this face frame for my shop cabinet looks like the perfect application for this new machine. The Domino has several things in common with the biscuit joiner including a European heritage and a hefty price tag. The biscuit joiner has been around for a…

Last week I discussed laying out the face frame for a cabinet I’m building for the shop. I’ll be updating the blog as work progresses on this, and for those of you keeping score at home, here are links to pdf files of my shop drawings. Backbench Plan & Elevation.pdf (40.49 KB)Backbench Sections.pdf (54.66 KB)…

New stands for our benchtop power tools are on my “to do” list, but I’m still waiting for the 2×4 material to come to equilibrium with our shop environment. In the meantime, I’m forging ahead on another project, a cabinet that will go below the windows where my current bench is.   My style of working…

I’ve spent the last couple weeks working out the details for several projects to improve our shop here at the magazine. It’s a nice space, but like many wood shops, quick fixes tend to become permanent fixtures. There are a number of areas we’d like to make more convenient, and we have several machines and…

Your table saw is a router table and jointer just waiting to happen. Replace one of the saw’s wings (or adapt your existing table board) to hold a router table insert, and you’re in business.

This clever rolling stand allows you to make dead-on crosscuts, and then it folds up when not in use. Plus, you need only two sheets of plywood to build it.

The big problem in a one-man shop is there’s only two hands and one back. And that one back gets tired after years of lugging sheets of plywood around).particleboard).

This 18th century English tool chest is one of the more interesting mysteries in the history of woodworking. It survived with almost all its tools intact — a major feat indeed.

Drill presses are designed mostly for metalworking. Dress yours up with this table – we give you all the project plans – and you’ll find it indispensable for woodworking, too.

After a lot of figuring I came up with a simple plan: Build a bench for less than $175.

Make your own router table for less than $50 by using these woodworking drawings and techniques. This one is easy to make and store.

Cut long lengths of lumber to rough size without four sawhorses or a helper.

With just 24 hours of working time and $180 to spend, you can build this rock-solid bench.

Plastic sawhorses are OK in a pinch. However, once you build a sawbench you will wonder how you ever worked wood without it.

This simple afternoon project is perfect for handsawing, holding doors for planing, organizing tools and giving you a leg up.

Save money and create more storage space with this smart shop cabinet.

Keep your tools handy with this great shop accessory.

Simple to build, mobile and packed with storage, this toolbox stores your tools and keeps the ones you’re using at the ready.

This worktable’s strength comes from skyscraper technology, and we show you the woodworking techniques to do it yourself.

From ripsaw to crosscut, keep all your hand saws within easy reach. You’ll also protect their cutting edges.

This tenon jig is used at the table saw, made from shop scraps and works as good as a commercial jig. Build this jig and save money.