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Medicine Cabinet

A slick technique makes the divided-light door a snap. In 2008, I built a contemporary maple chimney cupboard to hold towels in my bathroom. Eight years on, I decided it was time for a matching [...]

Draw Your Way to Better Woodworking

Using your hands to sketch can teach your eyes to really see. Most of us use our eyes to avoid bumping into things; we probably are only using 20 percent of our visual ability. I had a student [...]

Use a Countersink As a Depth Stop

If you have an adjustable countersink bit (like the ones from Insty-Bit), you can loosen the set screw and pull the collar off, then flip it around so the flat side is facing the work. Tighten it [...]

Joyners vs. Carpenters, 1631

Period woodworking trades in London were strictly regulated. I’ve temporarily put down my 5⁄16” joiner’s mortising chisel in favor of a 2″ chisel for chopping carpenter’s mortises. [...]

J. Wilding Moving Fillister Plane

Vintage moving fillister planes are easy to find but can be tricky to restore because of all the moving parts and the general wear and tear these tools endure. If you don’t want to buy a metal [...]

The First Trestle Tables

Portable, sturdy and easy to build, these were used for a variety of tasks. Many of the fantastic furniture forms of the Middle Ages have disappeared and have been replaced by pieces that are [...]

Sealers – What Are They?

An explanation of this most confusing of finishing treatments. In the late 1980s, I hosted a local call-in radio show dealing with finishing and restoration. I remember one caller explaining that [...]

Queen Anne Strop Box

Sharpen your hand-tool skills with this useful project. I recently obtained a nice piece of leather about 1⁄4” thick that I wanted to use as a strop for plane irons and chisels. And, I was [...]

Ideas that Jump Off the Page

Isometric views help keep your designs grounded. The kite leapt into the wind and I frantically uncoiled string that burned and chafed my hands and fingers. The thin wooden crossbeams bent almost [...]

Karl Holtey, Plane Pioneer

This legendary planemaker’s career has been dedicated to innovation. There is no straight path between a childhood spent in a camp for displaced persons in Germany’s Black Forest at the end of [...]

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