Archives

Flying Sawdust Last summer, due to the heat, I covered my portable saw with a canvas tarp and retreated to the cooler air inside my basement shop.  For two months, the saw sat under the shed [...]

I find cutting dowels on the band saw to be a hassle. For one thing, the blade can grab the round stock and twist it out of your hand if you’re not using a support cradle guided by the miter …

Spring clamps are easily converted to miter clamps by adding swivel jaws. Remove the vinyl tips, and then hacksaw a 1/2″ long slot down the center of the metal jaws. Use needle-nose [...]

This versatile hand tool should be every woodworker’s first plane purchase. As a “professional woodworker” I often get asked what’s the best bang-for-the-buck tool by people getting into [...]

I edge-band plywood shelves with solid wood, attaching the edge-banding with #20 biscuits. It’s no problem at all to hold the plywood shelf solidly while cutting the slot; that’s what bench dogs [...]

Chris Schwarz demonstrates how to prep rough stock in this classic Popular Woodworking video. …

Occasionally, I like to veneer my own cabinet doors. Like many small-shop woodworkers, I do the job by covering the veneered face with a platen, then applying clamping pressure onto the work via [...]

Making long, perfectly straight cuts with handheld power saws, such as jigsaws and circular saws, can be a real challenge. They aren’t difficult when a straightedge is used as a guide, but [...]

I needed an easy-access storage unit that wouldn’t take up a lot of room but would hold a large number of tools. My solution was a wall-hung tool cabinet with slide-out vertical pegboard drawers. [...]

This simple jig enables you to cut accurate tenons and slice very thin pieces. I use a flush-cut saw because it has no set to its teeth and, therefore, won’t damage the jig. Plus it leaves a [...]

Bleeding, blushing, blotching, orange peel and fish eye. The basics of wood finishing are really quite simple: You use one of three tools – a rag, brush or spray gun – to transfer a liquid stain [...]

Learn a straightforward approach to creating stunning details. I come to the field of woodworking with an unfair advantage. I grew up in a family jewelry business and did a lot of detail work [...]