Bound Up On the Topic of Glue

I have never used the right amount of glue , well that’s the way everyone else sees it. Whenever Publisher Steve Shanesy comes in while I’m gluing, he’s bound to make a comment [...]

Wary and Paralyzed in the 19th Century

Though Charleston is the most ethnically diverse and open Southern city I’ve ever visited, its taste in furniture has long been English. And because I am working on a book (which should be [...]

Amendment to My Review of Drawbore Pins

In my review of drawbore pins in the Summer 2009 issue, one of my gripes with many of the tools were the round handles. A round handle plus a round pin equals a tool on the floor. My vintage …

A Woodworking Tool No One Else Needs

Don’t buy the knife shown above. You’ll likely find it useless for dovetailing. It will languish at the bottom of your tool box, mocking you every time you push it and the Black & [...]

A Close Look at a Shaker Drawer

The words “always” and “never” will get you in trouble , so you should always endeavor to never use them. During the early stages of learning to cut dovetails, I foolishly [...]

Complete, Utter and Total Fail

Do you like stories about gladiators? How about stories about idiot woodworking editors? This week I was finishing up work on the joined Chinese stool for the cover of the Autumn 2009 issue of [...]

Chris Vesper and the Drop Test

With every project there is always some tool that deserves an Academy Award-style acceptance speech. “In building this chest of drawers I’d like to thank my mom for birthing me, Hanes [...]

Fixing a Naughty Nail

Traditional cut nails can be made from pretty soft steel, especially the useful cut headless brads. As a result, you have to be careful when installing them. Here are some of the things that can [...]

How I Fix Blown-out Grain

When making through-mortises by hand, one of the occasional problems is that you get a little mallet happy, you drive the mortise chisel a little too deep and you blow out a piece of grain on the [...]

An Expensive Chinese Copy

In the tool world there is an ugly (and erroneous) slur. When one company copies the tool of another company, they call it a “cheap Chinese copy.” Never mind that the copy was almost [...]

What Are You Giving Up for Lent? Fleam

I like a good carcase saw in the same way I like to eat most parts of the pig. I like the way that its well-tuned crosscut teeth slice into the grain and leave behind a glassy smooth cut. I …