I’m thankful when I can see disaster coming. Being able to spot a potential problem is the gift of experience, but it is also like a tranquilizer dart used to...
To modern eyes, old-school workbenches look like they are going to self-destruct. The legs are tenoned into the benchtop (which moves with the seasons). And stretchers (that don’t move) are...
After a little tweaking of the mortise, the first leg went in. You can see a gap at the shoulder (it’s about 1/16″ now). That’s actually what’s left of the...
I started cutting the mortises and the dovetail sockets in the benchtop today and I can tell you a few things: 1. The dovetail socket takes about half the time...
All week I’ve been itching to saw these joints that connect the legs to the benchtop. I’ve never cut a 5″-deep dovetail joint in a 6×6, so I wasn’t sure...
A few weeks ago I posted a blog entry about using a flush-cut saw to slice tenon shoulders. I must have written it poorly because several readers requested a video...
I’m think I’m a decent dovetailer. My joints are tight and I get things done. Heck, I can even teach dovetailing to others when pressed. So why don’t I post...
Many woodworkers think it’s bonkers to use a curved cutting edge in a jointer plane. After all, the plane is designed to make things straight and flat, so using a...
Perhaps I’m the oddball here, but I’ve always found cutting tenons by hand to be more challenging than any sort of dovetailing. Tenons require a lot of precision sawing if...
My next project is a close copy of a walnut side table from the White Water Shaker community. We’ll be publishing the plans in an upcoming issue and donating the...
