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Michael Dunbar distills three decades of sharpening into a simple, inexpensive and do-able system. This is a subversive article. Woodworking gurus and companies that make expensive sharpening [...]

Prepare your wood, pick the right glue and prevent problems. Baseball bats, utensils, turned items and small carved objects are usually made from one piece of wood. But most woodworking projects [...]

An historical detail adds refinement to projects both period and modern. The 18th century – a time when human hands were set to work in order to create the objects of material culture; when men [...]

Shellac is a mainstay in my shop, both as a sealer and as a finish. I mix my shellac from flakes and usually go with a 1 lb. cut, which is ideal for brushing ultra-smooth coats. I used to measure [...]

  Bodger and blacksmith Don Weber shows how to effectively combine power and hand-tool techniques to build a simple and sturdy toolbox. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared [...]

They explain so much. It’s often possible to sum up a lot of situations with a rule, a principle that applies in almost all cases. When I teach seminars on finishing, I often find myself citing a [...]

This strong and simple – but uncommon – joint imparts a decorative touch. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking. After 20 years of [...]

 Here’s a trick for I use for removing a stubborn router bit from the collet. I cut 1/2″ wide slots in a few credit card-size pieces of laminate. I then slide as many cards as I can [...]

I buy glue in gallon jugs and, having tried about every glue bottle on the market, I thought I would never find the perfect one. My search ended while washing dishes with my wife one evening.  [...]

Frustrated with my vise’s inability to hold odd-shaped pieces, I tried many solutions: v-notched face plates, cork, bubble wrap, leather, etc., but to no avail. One day I pulled an old mop out of [...]

Like most people, I keep lots of different screws, bolts, nails, washers, and other small parts in bins. Instead of paper labels, I hot glue a sample of the actual part on the outside of the bin. [...]

Having grown tired of bending and tearing sheet sandpaper again and again to get the size I need, I finally decided to employ the time-honored trick of cutting it with a hacksaw blade screwed to [...]