Nails for Woodworking
This much-maligned fastener has a place in the finest furniture. Here’s why. Among furniture makers, the reputation of the simple nail is somewhere south of expired glue and tacos made from [...]
The Way Wood Works
by Nick Engler Wood is a cantankerous substance; there’s no two ways about it. Its virtues, of course, are legendary. It’s attractive, abundant and easy to work. Pound for pound, it’s stronger [...]
Where to Buy Big Wood for Big Workbenches
During the last few years, I’ve been using giant 6×6 softwood timbers to build workbenches for classes and customers. These big hunks look old school and make the construction process quick [...]
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Internet woodworking forums are great places. You can observe or enter into a debate about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and you can follow that on a tangent about what’s [...]
Too Much Lumber is Never a Bad Thing
Whenever we convene a meeting of the “Should We or Should We Not Print Cutlists Debating Society”, we get tons of responses. In the latest instance an overwhelming number of poll [...]
My Chisel Handles are Older Than Yours
Exotic woods don’t blow my skirt/kilt/skort up much. In small doses they can look beautiful, but for the most part I find them oily, difficult to work and far too wild looking for full-size [...]
Compwood Unleashed and…
I must get off my hinder and start beavering on these two Welsh stick chairs I’m making for a friend. The arm bows are bent, the seats are glued up and…that’s all I got. Until this moment, [...]
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 [...]
Bench Building in Berea with Big Wood
The biggest challenge in building a workbench isn’t the design. It isn’t the joinery. And it isn’t even the physical labor. It’s finding the right wood. This May I’m teaching a class in building [...]
How to Make a Quick Kiln
When I released my Compwood arm bows from the clamps this morning, I saw a little bit of springback. It was less than I’d get with other bending techniques, but it was more than I expected. [...]
Video: Bending the Wiggle Wood, Solo
After not burning down the city with my lightbulb-in-a-box scheme, my first CompWood armbow dropped to 8 percent moisture content overnight. I removed it from its form and put one clamp on it [...]
Make the Arkansas Insty-Kiln
I was surprised by how much my CompWood arm bow dried out overnight. It went from 20 percent moisture content to 12 percent moisture content. But I’m not ready to take it out of the clamps [...]
