Understand the fundamentals of finishing your woodworking projects. A wood finish is a clear, transparent coating applied to wood to protect it from moisture and to make it look richer and deeper. This differs from paint, which is a wood finish loaded with enough pigment to hide the wood. And it differs from a stain,…

A newly-installed oak floor with oil-based polyurethane wouldn’t dry after five days. What was the problem? Bob Flexner explains.

Finishing figured wood is an intimidating thing.  You have a special material and you want to apply a finish that is going to enhance the figure that’s already there. Here is my oil-based approach to most curly woods. My first step is to get a good surface for my finish to soak into. I start…

Once you understand the anatomy of a handplane, you’ll be well on your way to using it with success. [View the full-size exploded view of a handplane here] Handplanes are the king of woodworking tools in that they are the most versatile tool in a shop. They do so many varied jobs, that the more…

  Most woodworking projects involve roughing, refining, and finishing steps, and using the right tool for each makes the work both precise and efficient. Too often we hear that hand tools are slow and power tools are fast. Even people who love hand tools talk about how they enjoy handwork because it forces them to…

Stop measuring and simply learn how to saw straight. The dovetail is an ancient joint widely used in cathedrals, barns and Egyptian furniture. It is the right joint for many items including fine furniture, carcases, drawers and jewelry boxes. They are all dovetailed together. I was only 27 years old when I came to this…

From butt joints to dovetails, every builder should know these essential woodworking joints —and when to use each one. The following is a small sample from the book The Complete Starter Guide to Making Wooden Boxes, written by Albert Kleine and published by Fox Chapel Publishing. A book on box-making essentials would be incomplete without…

Cutting rabbets by hand can quickly and easily be done with vintage and modern planes alike. Both just take a little know-how. I would consider a rabbet joint an essential woodworking joint to know how to cut. It’s as equally valuable building the case of a chest as it is building down and dirty drawers….

Not too big, not too small. This chest is a handy size for a basic set of tools. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. It’s the modern joiner’s dilemma. An old house over in the next county has missing mouldings on the mantel, a kicked-in panel…

When using my miter saw, I’ve found that the easiest way to sneak up on a line is to use a stack of sticky notes. First, set a stop block to cut your part slightly oversize (1/16″ is plenty). Attach a thin pile of sticky notes to the stop block, make a cut, and then…

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…

This honing stone setup is part of my dedicated sharpening station. It consists of a plastic tray mounted in a plywood carrier box that also provides solid footing for a wooden stone holder that bridges the box. The unit is screwed to the bench next to my grinder, consolidating all my sharpening needs in one…

A micro-Adjust fence is the perfect accessory for making grooves, mortises, or other milling operations using a hand-held router. It allows you to precisely adjust the distance between the bit and the fence. This device operates in two steps. First, move both fences together, with the micro fence against your workpiece, within 1/8″ of your…

I make my own zero-clearance throat plates for my table saw to minimize exit tear-out on workpieces and to prevent narrow pieces from dropping into the saw. When raising the blade through the insert blank for the first time (using a small-diameter blade), it’s necessary to hold the insert down for safety. I used to…

For the cost of one large piece of machinery, you can set up a complete shop with hand tools. Here’s what you need to get started.

Tool: Folding Saddle Square Shop Now  Manufacturer: Woodpeckers MSRP: $59.99+ Making accurate marks is one of the most fundamental tasks in a wood shop, yet it can be quite challenging to master. For instance, when laying out a layout line around a leg, if the line on one face is off, it can skew the…

Tool: Micro Squares Shop Now  Manufacturer: Blue Spruce Toolworks MSRP: $64.99-$109.99 Having one or two really nice squares is essential in the shop. Being able to check parts for square, and set up machines are some of the most frequent uses of mine. Blue Spruce recently released a pair of micro squares that are perfectly…