Some straight talk about cherry and blotching. When I opened my furniture-making and restoration shop in 1976, the woods considered best for high-end furniture were walnut and mahogany. Of course, oak and maple were also used, and sometimes cherry. As had been the case through the previous three centuries, cherry was still thought of as…

When finishing a flat panel, I use plastic soda bottle caps as standoffs to raise the panel above the bench. First, I finish the back side of the panel. Then I set the wet side on the upturned soda caps and finish the front side. One small problem–the soda bottle tops have a series of…

It isn’t called shou sugi ban, nor is every charred workpiece in a project called yakisugi. It’s simply a charred finish with its origins in Japan. An important lesson I learned during my five-year military enlistment was the concept of always leaving something better than it was. My unit would ensure a range used during…

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.

Armed with a little trickery, you can make the block plane perform a wide variety of tasks. Hang around enough woodshops (or Internet discussion groups) with a block plane in your hand and you’ll eventually be derided for owning a “carpenter’s tool.” It’s a criticism that I’ve never understood. Small trimming planes – no matter…

Bench planes come in a wide range of lengths and widths. Do you need them all? Which ones are most useful? And if you only had to buy one….

Your joints will last for decades if you know how to apply your glue. Much of woodworking is joinery: An edge-to-edge joint is used to join two or more boards to create a tabletop, dovetails are carefully cut and fit to create a box for a chest of drawers. And the corners of a door…

Some people get pretty worked up about using the right word for the right joint. Perhaps they have a point since imprecise use of terms can lead to confusion. So, to be precise, here are the proper definitions: A dado is a U-shaped, square-bottomed channel cut across the grain. A groove looks just like a…

Editor’s note: This dovetail method is referenced in the October 2021 issue of Popular Woodworking, so we are republishing it to the home page. The blog below was originally published in September 2012 to coincide with the release of the video.  I’m in the midst of making a place to put my woodworking stuff, a…

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…

When I was a kid, the first saw I bought was a Craftsman coping saw with a chrome frame and red-stained handle. For years I did everything with that saw – crosscuts, rips, curves and even joints. But I made none of those cuts particularly well. Part of the problem was that I was 11…

I was first introduced to branch hooks and their organic beauty while reading Peter Follansbee’s excellent article on the subject in Popular Woodworking magazine. Peter showed how to turn a typical forked tree branch into a functional hook that someone can employ in the hallway, the kitchen, and practically everywhere. A few years later I…

Not Your Average Rotary Tool As a woodworker and self-proclaimed tool connoisseur, I have found a big difference between the “consumer” and “professional” grade tools. Recently, I had the chance to play around with a professional tool, the NSK Evolution. Think of the Evolution as the hybrid between a dentist’s drill and a standard rotary…

The “Swiss Army” family of knives, and their contemporary descendants – the Multi-tools, are a good solution for on-the-go situations. Although these tools can never really be a perfect substitute for the ergonomics and efficiency of the individual tool, their compactness and versatility can provide us with reasonable solutions while away from our shop, on…

Check out these 11 methods to make layout easier. Write With Chalk Lay out “cut here” marks on rough lumber with chalk. Chalk marks are easy to read, even on the scruffiest surface. Unlike ink, pencil or crayon, chalk marks are easy to erase if you change your mind. (I often do!) Just scrub the…

Tool: Small Double Square Shop Now  Manufacturer: Lee Valley MSRP: $49.50 A diemakers’ square with a narrow blade is an excellent tool for determining minute problems with your joinery, allowing you to get in between narrow dovetail pins, for example, to check for sloping walls. But a true diemakers’ square (on which the blade angle…

To set the height of a router bit—within .001″, if necessary—I made this simple stand for my caliper. It works on a router table or a hand-held router. Two screws with washers secure the caliper. When I need the caliper without the stand, it’s easy to remove. The exact position of the caliper on the…

Ordinary push pads tend to slip, I’ve found, when face-jointing a board. I modified one of mine by cutting 1/2″ of the rubber padding off its back end and then screwing on a 1/2″ x 1/2″ cleat. Now the rear push pad hooks the back end of the board. No more slipping! –Mike Cyr

Old bandsaw blades can easily be recycled into useful marking or carving knives. One blade nets you a slew of small pieces. Use a tin snip to cut off a piece of the blade, grind off the teeth, and then grind the profile. Quench the blade in water quite often so you don’t burn it;…

When finishing a flat panel, I use plastic soda bottle caps as standoffs to raise the panel above the bench. First, I finish the back side of the panel. Then I set the wet side on the upturned soda caps and finish the front side. One small problem–the soda bottle tops have a series of…