Four short (but crucial) finishing subjects. What follows are four concise – but important – finishing topics about which you’ve likely wondered. 1 – Metamerism Most of us have experienced a situation where we finish a project in our shop or garage to the exact color we want, only to discover that the color isn’t…

Why are you working harder than you need to? Sanding is boring. It’s boring to watch, it’s boring to do, and I find it boring to write about. But myths are fun to write about, and there are some big ones suggesting that sanding to a very fine-grit sandpaper produces better finish results. So here…

Some of the most common questions we get are about finishing. How do I get a better finish on my project? What’s the easiest finish to apply? What’s the most durable finish? Unfortunately, finishing almost always ends up being an afterthought, when in reality, it should be one of the first things you think about…

Tools solve problems in wood. Hand tools bought just to collect do not serve you well. But tools bought when you need them will serve many projects to come. Don’t hesitate to buy a good hand tool suitable to the task. The tools mentioned here actually stand a chance of being useful in the hands…

Practical solutions to common plane problems. When a plane is working right, it can produce a silky-smooth surface that absolutely glistens. When it doesn’t work, you get an ugly surface covered with blemishes. The problem can be your sharpening, your technique, or the plane itself. Quite often, it’s the plane. These troubleshooting tips should go…

These once-standard tools still have a place in the modern shop. Here’s what you need to know about the use, care and keeping of drawknives and spokeshaves.

Practice Traditional Building Joinery on a Smaller Scale Project #2104 • Skill Level: Advanced • Time: 2 Weeks • Cost: $300 During my 14 years living in Europe, I marveled repeatedly at how these beautiful timber framed structures had withstood the test of time—I remember one awe-inspiring timber framed house near Wiesbaden, Germany, with a placard on…

I use biscuit joints in lots of small projects, particularly for joining rails to legs. I usually reference from the bottom of the plate joiner rather than use its fence. When I want to make an offset joint, I cut the slots in the rails first. Then I add a large shim plate to the…

Like many woodworkers, I own a basic half-blind dovetail jig, which I use only occasionally for making utility drawers. During the interim, I tend to forget the setup procedures and spacing required to create those elusive “perfect” dovetails. To help refresh my aging memory, I made up a full-width sample joint that I can refer…

I use a portable circular saw to break down plywood and other sheet goods into manageable pieces before bringing them to the table saw for final sizing. I prefer to do the job on sawhorses rather than crouching on the floor. Unfortunately, you normally need three or four horses to provide enough support to prevent…

The next time you use your jigsaw, forget about hauling out the sawhorses or cantilevering a hard-to-hold workpiece off your bench. Extruded polystyrene insulation board, the rigid pink sheets used in housing construction, makes sawing easy, whether you’re cutting a small piece of hardwood or a full sheet of plywood. During the cut, the workpiece…

Strength, patience and a sharp saw turn scraps into treasure. The hardwoods I use are almost always riven or split from a log. When I need thinner pieces than usual, I split them again. But there are times when I have mill-sawn stock and the way to get that thinner is either plane it down…

After creating the facets (drawing and image below), we need to round over the mouse’s back. To read the first part of the story click here. Add two additional guidelines above and below the facet and ask the child to rasp and round those areas. Rasp the lower round-over band from the middle of the…

This coming Saturday I am going to teach a remote whittling class for children, hosted by Peters Valley School of Crafts. Unlike in-person teaching, where the teacher is present in the class/shop and can have much tighter control over the pedagogy, the equipment, and can routinely intervene with the individual student’s project, the nature of…

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was obligated to change my curriculum and put our traditional shop work on hiatus. Since I wasn’t able to use our benches, vises, and clamps I had to lighten up the projects, forgo the use of gouges, mallets, and chisels, and come up with mainly whittling projects…

Every woodworker knows not to rely on inside measurements made with a tape measure. Instead, I use two steel rules with dimensions that run to the edges. I butt one rule at each end, so the graduations overlap. To calculate the exact inside measurement, I read one ruler from the 10-in. mark on the other…

Tool: 3-In-1 Digital Laser Measurer Shop Now   Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $79 Dremel recently released a new 3-in-1 digital measurer that would be a great addition to a carpenter’s toolkit. In addition to the laser measure, it has a tape measure attachment and a wheel attachment for measuring curved and uneven surfaces. All functions are…

Lasers are popping up on all sorts of tools. Are they useful – or just clever marketing? We investigate. Editor’s note: David asked this question way back in 2005, but with tool manufacturers still putting lasers on all sorts of tools, it remains relevant. If you take a look at all the new tools that…

Drawer Helper Desperation is the mother of invention—isn’t that how the old saying should go for woodworkers? I invented this device when I realized that the drawers in my new armoire tipped down way too much. Two of these helpers, one at each corner, now keep each drawer level when opened. They act as stops,…

When I crosscut hardwood plywood, I use an old technique to minimize tearout on the bottom face. I simply make two passes with my general-purpose blade. After setting the rip fence, I cut a shallow groove, no more than 1/32 in. deep. Then I raise the blade and cut all the way through. Cutting plywood…

The dust collection port on my sliding miter saw missed a lot of sawdust, so I added an additional port mounted directly behind the blade. The port is a piece of 3-in. ABS pipe that’s cut at 45 degrees to create a wide mouth. The pipe is shaped to fit behind the saw’s swiveling table,…