Archives

One of the most challenging tasks in wood finishing is matching the color of an existing object, color swatch or photo in a magazine. Most people try to accomplish this with just a stain, but it [...]

Inside Job While building kitchen cabinets, I purposefully chose straight-grained lumber for the doors’ stiles and rails and bought expensive, highly-figured boards to make the panels. In [...]

One of the first tools I bought was a 9″ steel try square with a brass and rosewood stock. Like a supermodel, it’s nice to look at, but not so fun to deal with day-to-day. Its blade is too [...]

Consider yourself a midwife to creativity. By Brian Boggs Page: 64 From the December 2011 issue #194

One Coat Coverage I had finished building new frame and panel doors for my kitchen cabinets and knew the stain would really make the grain pop. I laid the first door on my workbench, with the [...]

Kids’ imaginations are inversely proportional to their attention spans. By David Ross Puls Page: 58 From the August 2010 issue #184

In December I built a large traditional tool chest for my shop at home, and I couldn’t stop staring at the end grain of the wide pine planks I’d selected for the walls of the chest. Though I work [...]

I’m a sucker for new year’s resolutions. As a pragmatic optimist, I really like the idea of a fresh start, a time to make your life better, for no other reason than a pope in the 16th Century [...]

You need to think a little differently. A rotary Indexing Head allows a CNC machine to create 3-dimensional shapes in the round. It’s an accessory that can be added to most CNC machines. Some [...]

As the editor of a woodworking publication, I spend my days reading and writing about woodworking, and talking to other woodworkers about projects they’re doing. Part of my job is to [...]

As the leaves turn and the nights get cooler, I know woodworking season is approaching. Yes, I do spend as much time in the shop as I can, but the warmer summer months mean mowing, trips to the [...]

I recently was struck by a thought while spending some time in Andrew’s workshop: this is genuinely fun. It wasn’t until I was driving home a few hours later that the significance of [...]