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Ebonizing can be a lot of fun and it’s a great option to add to your offerings. Learn how to achieve a deep, rich black using household ingredients plus some powder from a South American evergreen.

A straight mortise-and-tenon joint requires each tenon cheek to be flat, of consistent thickness and parallel to the body of the workpiece. If a cheek is twisted or angled relative to the faces [...]

It’s accurate, easy to use and built to last. There are all manner of drill press tables and fences, from a simple 2×4 clamped to the machine’s cast iron table to ones with gadgets and [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]