Before we start carving, here are a few basic carving principles. Stop cuts are cuts that protect areas you don’t want to remove. These simply sever the fibers and define shapes, allowing you to make cuts into them without cutting past them. Next, remember you can always take more off but not add it back….

If you spend any time in the turning community, you’ve probably seen this style of ornament before. The hollow urchin shells are available online (and in various species—the smoother ones are thinner and more delicate). The key to a good-looking urchin shell ornament is to make sure the finials are thin and delicate. Otherwise, the…

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,…

The holidays are busy for most everyone, but there’s always enough time to knock out a project like this on your scroll saw. I sped up the process even more by buying 1/8” veneer instead of cutting it myself. Once you’ve created your template and get into a rhythm, you can make an ornament for…

An ideal project for learning how to make a bent lamination. A Mouse needs a nice home too, doesn’t it? At least, that’s what a friend had in mind when she asked me to design a little house to cover a mouse-chewed hole in her baseboard. She wanted to turn a lemon into lemonade, I…

Building Your Canteen Read part 1 here Materials 1⁄2″ thick lumber – 48″ long 1⁄4″ thick plywood – 10″ x 20″ 1 each, 2″ wide cotton/linen carrying strap 1 each, 2″ strap buckle (optional f/ carrying strap) 2 each, 3 1/2″ long x 1⁄2″ wide leather pieces or steel strap 1⁄2″ leather banding or steel…

From the Popular Woodworking premium video archives, Christopher Schwarz shows you how to build a simple pine bookcase using only hand tools. Watch: Preparing Rough Stock Download: Boarded Bookshelf PDF

The last two repair remedies this chair needed before its inauguration into productive service life were reinstalling it with the old leg brackets and creating and installing a set of new corner blocks. The old quarter-circle leg brackets were originally connected with the same kind of inferior screws that I talked about before. So I…

A furniture maker visits the Pleasant Hill, Ky., community and unearths a fair number of surprises (nails!) about Shaker joinery. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Popular Woodworking. If you’re planning to stay at the restored Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Ky., I have some advice: At dawn, after…

One of the more disappointing joining methods that miserably failed due to the traumatic fall (or jolt) before the chair had been placed in its shipping box was the leg-to-rail and rails to cross rails connections. These joints were only glued and stapled together (A, below), which is a poor solution. Ideally, these joints should…

My course of action with any repair, restoration or conservation is: Do No Harm. That is, I try to deal with the essential structural, finish, hardware, etc. issues without forcing changes on the piece’s elements who are otherwise still integral and functioning. In the case of this chair, I set my course of action like…

Use this simple, strong method for constructing kitchen cabinets and other built-ins. Editor’s note: Nancy Hiller passed away on August 29th, 2022 after a long battle with cancer. In honor of her memory, we will be sharing some of our favorite contributions from her over the years. This article was originally published in the October…

The bench hook is without question one of the most indispensable tools in my wood shop. The force of gravity and the force of using the tool up against a solid fence is all that it takes to keep the work from moving. It’s deceptively sophisticated and exceptionally simple to make. It’s a great choice…

Modern hardware and techniques update this Tage Frid-inspired bench. Scandinavian- or Continental-style workbenches are the vinyl LP records of the woodworking world. These iconic benches have never left the scene. A few are classics and others are the flavor of the month. Some benches in this style are masterworks and some are poor approximations of…

Tool: QuickSet Work Bench TB-WB700 Shop Now   Manufacturer: ToughtBuilt MSRP: $99 Space in my shop is always at a premium, especially work surfaces. Most of the permanent counter space is reserved for the various tools I’m testing, and my assembly table is almost covered with stuff from the latest woodworking project. So if I…

A perfect platform for teaching woodworking to kids. Woodworking safely with children requires a bench vise to hold stock securely. While stools can raise a child to the height of your workbench, there is nothing safer than having your feet firmly planted on the ground for activities that require physical strength. While most woodworking tools…

A proven design that will last a lifetime. I have many fine tools in my shop, but the most important one is my bench. It has a classic design, favored by cabinetmakers for generations.    I’ve spent a long time refining the details of this bench. I’ve built 15 of them over the years, simplifying…

Welcome to my home shop. It’s fairly small — about 14×24 and located in our finished basement. It houses my collection of hand tools, lathe, table saw, router table, drill press, band saw, and various smaller “benchtop” type tools.  While I spend most of my time at my bench with handtools, the first thing you…

The bench hook is without question one of the most indispensable tools in my wood shop. The force of gravity and the force of using the tool up against a solid fence is all that it takes to keep the work from moving. It’s deceptively sophisticated and exceptionally simple to make. It’s a great choice…

Router table cabinets can be a waste of space. This compact, vise-mounted unit stores easily and is just the right size. I think it might have been seeing a $1,000 router table setup at a recent woodworking show (it’s very cool, but $1,000?). Or maybe it was realizing that our shop’s router table’s cabinet mostly…

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,…

Make your own copy of this precision vintage tool. 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. I used to wish for a secret button I could step…

Cut perfect circles up to 4′ across! Have you ever tried to cut a circle on a bandsaw, freehand? It’s quick, but it sure isn’t exact. Dollars to doughnuts you’ll get flat spots or bumps that are a pain to sand out. Big circles are really tough to get right. Fortunately, there’s a clever solution….

Modern hardware and techniques update this Tage Frid-inspired bench. Scandinavian- or Continental-style workbenches are the vinyl LP records of the woodworking world. These iconic benches have never left the scene. A few are classics and others are the flavor of the month. Some benches in this style are masterworks and some are poor approximations of…

Router table cabinets can be a waste of space. This compact, vise-mounted unit stores easily and is just the right size. I think it might have been seeing a $1,000 router table setup at a recent woodworking show (it’s very cool, but $1,000?). Or maybe it was realizing that our shop’s router table’s cabinet mostly…

An easy interlocking joint begets great strength and style.

Elegant results from a humble beginning. Thin strips of wood littered the shop floor after I completed the doors for a custom kitchen. Throwing these “toothpicks” away didn’t seem right, but neither did storing them. So instead I used them to build this great little wine rack. It stores up to 15 bottles of wine…