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“Now let us drink to the success of our hopeless endeavor.”— Russian dissident toast My plan for the June 2011 cover project was a 17th-century “book press” from Samuel Pepys library – considered [...]

When I first started working here at the magazine we actually had time to go out for lunch each week (we now eat at our desks), and one day after eating at a Thai restaurant we wandered into a [...]

I’m just about to resaw my maple version of Roubo’s Folding Bookstand that’s based on Roy Underhill’s article, and I made a full-size pattern of the elevation of the [...]

After making the down-and-dirty folding bookstand in a video last week, I decided to make another pair as a very late Christmas gift. I am not a good friend. These will be maple and sized more [...]

If you are having trouble with the Roubo’s Folding Bookstand article from the February 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, I urge you to attempt to lay out the joints on some wood [...]

One of the most-popular projects I made last year was the Moxon Double-screw Vise from the December 2010 issue. It’s popularity was eclipsed only by the Handplane Birdhouse in the August [...]

I have four bookcases filled with woodworking books in my office at home, another two bookcases in my office at work and boxes and boxes of them in the basement. And the list of the woodworking [...]

Clenching a nail – sometimes spelled “clinching” – is an essential traditional woodworking skill. But until you are clenching like a pro, there are some baby steps you can take. In [...]

Whenever I teach a class, at least one student will say to me “you really don’t like measuring, do you?” I don’t dislike measuring, but I try to avoid it whenever I can. [...]

Peter Follansbee and Mike Siemsen have cleared up the mystery of the pinwheel-shaped wooden nails. The pinwheel shape of the nails is caused by the shell or gimlet bit used to make the hole. The [...]

The pegs that hold the joinery of old furniture together are always interesting. I’ve seen pegs with their heads shaped square and octagonal, which are obviously the product of either [...]

Whenever I stink at something in woodworking, it becomes my lunch-hour obsession. While chomping an apple, I’ll read everything I can about the topic. Then I’ll steal off to the shop [...]