Welcome to the 2021 edition of the Popular Woodworking gift guide! Know your price point? Jump right in below, or keep scrolling if you’re just browsing for ideas. $30 and under • $30 to $100 • $100 to $200 • $200 And Up This year we’re featuring a ton of great tools new and old,…

Protecting our ears in loud environments is paramount for our audio health, but blocking our ears from listening to our surroundings can throw off our spatial awareness, which can lead to bodily injuries. I am not claiming that humans are like bats (who totally rely on their hearing capacity for in-flight navigation) but from my…

Like most of the woodworking community, I spent more time in my shop during 2020 and 2021. Over the last two years, I used a variety of tools and gained new appreciation for a handful of them. Some of these are new tools, others are ones that I’ve simply come to appreciate more. Following, you’ll…

Most woodworkers are homeowners, but not all homeowners are woodworkers. This article is more for the latter group; an introduction of sorts to the essential tools every homeowner should have access to. If you’re looking for woodworking tools specifically, this is the list for you. Each tool below features both an essential and advanced recommendation,…

As woodworkers, we rely on electricity to alleviate some of the heavy lifting burdens of milling, sawing, and drilling. Many of us use these machines quite often and I believe we would benefit from being able to maintain them and solve some basic malfunctions. A few weeks ago I turned on my Delta drill press…

For a long time, there was resistance from many in the woodworking community to battery-powered tools. Going “unplugged” usually meant reduced power, frequent charging, and the inevitable battery failure before the tool itself was worn out. That all changed with the introduction of lithium-ion batteries, and today there’s hardly a tool out there that doesn’t…

I own three bandsaws. Two are hand-me-downs from neighbors and the most recent arrival is a brand new Grizzly 17”  that I bought. The Grizzly is a great machine but like many of its peers, most of the bandsaw adjustment features are controlled by locking socket head cap screw, aka Allen screws. There is nothing…

After milling the parts for the shelf’s frame, rabbiting them, and cutting the miters, (read the first part of this story here) I connected them to the legs with screws. I found out that the geometry of the shelf was closer to a trapezoid than a square or a rectangle. Plus, even if I could…

In our latest video, we’re comparing water stones, oil stones, and diamond stones. Get a basic overview, then learn the pros and cons of each sharpening method. Click here for more articles about sharpening.

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.

I use hand planes quite a lot and give each one a special role to play. My ensemble of metal planes includes long and short, wide and narrow, expensive, but also dirt cheap eBay bought and later restored by me. As a rule of thumb, the broader the surface you need to plane is, the…

The single most important hand-tool appliance is 3 sticks of wood. Owning a backsaw without owning a bench hook is like riding a bicycle without handlebars. This simple hand-tool appliance (three sticks of wood) uses the force of the tool and gravity to hold your work as you saw. And it helps guide your tool…

When I teach beginners, one of the most common phrases I hear is, “I cannot get this (insert tool name) to work. What’s wrong?” They hand the tool to me and the fun begins. Though block planes are dirt-simple handplanes, there are some important points about them that are rarely discussed in the literature. Here…

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…

Tool: 14″ Precision Carcase Saw, aka ‘the Bayonet’ Shop Now  Manufacturer: Bad Axe Toolworks MSRP: $295+ If you’re looking for the ultimate expression of a carcase saw, the 14″ Bayonet Precision Carcase Saw from Bad Axe Tool Works is the definitive answer. The Bayonet is both fast and deadly accurate. With the recommended 14 ppi…

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…

Problem Solver: The Milwaukee Electric Chain Saw Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the May 1981 issue of Pacific Woodworker. This particular model is obviously no longer sold in stores, but you may be able to find one on eBay if you feel like recreating the experience.  If you have ever thought about the…

Tool: Paralign Single Featherboard Shop Now and Paralign Double Featherboard Shop Now Manufacturer: JessEm MSRP: $27.99 & $48.99 At first glance, JessEm’s Paralign Featherboard might look like any other featherboard–except for those two extra knobs. What’s the deal? You tighten one set of knobs to lock the featherboard’s mounting bracket. Then you slide the featherboard…

Tool: M5 Dust Cyclone Collection Shop Now Manufacturer: Mullet Tools MSRP: $229.99 When I heard that a handful of former YETI guys had created a new dust collection system I was intrigued. I’ve gone through several iterations of dust collection in my shop. I started with a hand-me-down 70 gal dust collector before realizing it…

Three LEDs and a 30″ flexible neck deliver durable, excellent task lighting. Tool: Super Nova Bright LED Machine Lamp Shop Now Manufacturer: Woodturners Wonders MSRP: $159.95 Good lighting can make a big difference in the quality of your woodworking, especially hand-tool work. Without it, there is little hope of accurately sawing to a layout line….