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...
If you ever needed more evidence that woodworkers have always been a parsimonious lot, look no further than the December 1901 issue of the British magazine The Woodworker. In an...
There are few things worse than too-soft screwdrivers. Lima beans, Care Bears and eye surgery with a teaspoon immediately come to mind. When I blogged about my favorite “perfect handle”...
Plate Joiner Tips and Techniques 12 ways to build cabinets faster and better with biscuits By Jon Stumbras Fast, Accurate Face Frames After you’ve put together a few face...
In my DVD “Building Furniture With Hand Planes,” we offer plans for a Shaker Hanging Cabinet, which is what I’m working on throughout the DVD. However, as some viewers have...
This week I’ll be taking a sack back Windsor chair class with maestro Michael Dunbar at The Windsor Institute, his school in Hampton, New Hampshire (a state my daughter has...
If you ever decide to delve into traditional woodworking, you quickly learn that wedges are your friend. Build chairs? You need to wedge all the joints. Traditional doors? Wedge your...
If you’ve been trying to reach me during the last few weeks, I apologize. The answers to your questions are: 1. Almost any species of wood will do fine for...