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Small pieces transform your work from austere to awesome. Signature features of Federal-style furniture include bellflowers and stringing that often adorn furniture legs, but are also found on [...]

Sometimes drilling a hole in a finished piece of wood is unavoidable. I keep a pad of sticky notes nearby for this purpose. I put the sticky note roughly over the area where the hole is to go. [...]

Veneer is just thin wood – so don’t be afraid of it. I love repairing old furniture – the older the better. I find repairing more challenging and satisfying than making new because someone else, [...]

Quick Panel-finishing Setup When making frame-and-panel doors, my panels are finished before installing them into their frames. The fact that the edges will be tucked into the frames allows for a [...]

Winding sticks are very useful for gauging twist in a board, but they’re difficult to read. My improved version of these time-tested helpers makes the twist stand out. I start with a pair of [...]

Whether a hobby or a small business, it’s a woodworker’s dream job. As a craftsman, I’ve always enjoyed building stuff. But the pivotal point that led me into woodworking [...]

Mechanical solutions for the formula-challenged woodworker. There was a time when I was fairly good at math – but that was back when “personal” and “computer” were two words you’d never expect to [...]

If you have an adjustable countersink bit (like the ones from Insty-Bit), you can loosen the set screw and pull the collar off, then flip it around so the flat side is facing the work. Tighten it [...]

There are times when you need to hold a workpiece securely against a dog in the workbench, but don’t want to risk damage to the work from a hard bench dog. Here’s a simple bench dog that will be [...]

Practice is the best of all instructors. Maynard lived next door. When he wasn’t spinning wrenches at the local Ford garage, he was out in his driveway, hunched over a neighbor’s car. As a kid I [...]

Arm yourself with a good plan (or two) and your buying trip will be a success. I have a 10″-wide piece of 8/4 purpleheart sitting on my lumber rack. I bought it eight years ago when I [...]

This traditional finish from Denmark is simple, safe and tactile. When I tell fellow woodworkers and customers that I use soap as a finish on some of my tables and chairs, they think I’m joking. [...]