How to Avoid Kickback on a Table Saw
I posted a video on our YouTube channel this morning with Kelly Mehler on table saw kickback. In talking with David Lyell about the video I realized that a lot had happened since that video was [...]
When Will ‘Day 4’ Occur?
Ah, Thursday – day four of a woodworking class. This is the day that most students hit a wall. They take naps at their benches. They sneak off to their cars to lie down. They disappear in the [...]
On Gaps and Dovetails and Winterthur
Years ago when touring Winterthur, I saw a lot of wacky Pennsylvanian dovetails on old chests. These joints had been wedged through their pins – a feature I had not seen in person before. While [...]
Kelly Mehler’s Land of Many Benches
If you ever want to try out a lot of different workbench designs before you settle on building one for your shop, you might want to take a class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking. During [...]
A Chip-resistant Drill Press Fence
File this one under: Tricks that everyone knows but me. Whenever I work against a fence on my drill press, I constantly huff and sweep the table clear of shavings. Why? If even one errant shaving [...]
Flatten a Workbench’s Top in 5 Minutes
Woodworkers are always looking for a better way to flatten the top of their workbench after they finish building it, or when the top has gone out of truth for some reason. I like using a [...]
French Workbench Class – Day 6
It is unwise to rush when installing vises on a workbench. So I stopped whipping the maggots students during the last two days of the class and encouraged them to work at their own pace. Some [...]
French Workbench Class – Day 5
Installing vises in workbenches is always a finicky process – unless you go for a super-simple setup like the one I prefer: A quick-release vise for the end vise and a simple leg vise for the [...]
French Workbench Class – Day 4
When I walked into the shop at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking this morning at 8:24 a.m., the place was a wreck. The students were fitting their joints among piles of shavings and sawdust [...]
French Workbench Class – Day 3
The problem with Wednesdays at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking is that Kelly and Teri are a bit too nice to the students and instructors. That’s the evening when the Mehlers shut down the [...]
Building a French-style Workbench: Day 2
I usually keep a log that records all the time I work on a project in the shop. But few people believe me when I say that I spend about 40 hours building an ancient workbench. Their disbelief is [...]
It’s Not Just for Bears Anymore
To transform a pile of 6″ x 6″ x 8′ yellow pine beams into 10 workbenches, the first step is a chainsaw. This morning I drove down to Berea, Ky., to help Kelly Mehler and his [...]
