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All levels of finishing are burdened with myths, but the types of finishes used by amateurs and sold in home centers and woodworking stores suffer the most. Myths about polyurethane are a good [...]

That little hand blower I talked about recently has become a constant companion. It hasn’t replaced my air compressor, though, because there are still two important things it does that the hand [...]

The Adventure of the Pilgrim’s Chair. Sometime in the haze of the 1970s, Armand LaMontagne, a wood sculptor from Rhode Island, sought revenge against the museum world. He had been rebuffed by [...]

Lasers can be both woodworking and metalworking tools. I got my laser engraver/cutters primarily to work wood and consider them woodworking tools first and foremost. But woodwork is supported by [...]

This handy little tool is like an air compressor in your pocket. I love finding new tools, or even tools that have been around a while that I’ve just learned about. Not sure what I was actually [...]

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at bad stock photography, nail [...]

It’s pointless to complain how “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” I’ve pointed out that that’s not always true: They still make ’em, but it will cost you more. And unless you’re lucky, [...]

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at cordless sanders, religious [...]

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at giant saws, Honda Civics, and [...]

What could you do with see-through wood? Transparent wood isn’t a new thing. A German botanist developed a basic way to create it three decades ago.  It wasn’t very good and, honestly, not all [...]

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at a reader submission, NIOSH [...]

I’ve acquired a bunch of routers over the years—enough so that I can afford to keep a few permanently mounted in these mini router tables. For lots of jobs, you don’t need a large table or a [...]