Some years back, when the company I worked for relocated out of state, I lost my job. While hunting for a new position and feeling a bit down, I visited a shop that sold used woodworking machines. I found a little pick-me-up there in the form of a #700 Goodell-Pratt bench lathe, made in the…

Five years ago, I wrote a blog entry about the brass mallets I use for joinery. I mentioned the Canadian-made Veritas Mallet, a compact tool that weighs 17.6 oz (500gr) and costs $39, and a Taiwanese-made mallet heavier than the Veritas and weighed 23 oz (653gr). I bought the Taiwanese mallet for our school’s woodworking…

Tool: 8240 Cordless Rotary Tool Shop Now   Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $99 (includes 2.0Ah battery, charger, storage case, and several accessories) Dremel has been a whirlwind recently, releasing several new models and updated old ones, most recently the new and improved 8240 High-Speed 12V Cordless Rotary Tool. The 8240 slots nearly perfectly between the flagship…

Tool: 18V ONE+™ 5″ Random Orbit Sander PCL406B Shop Now   Manufacturer: Ryobi MSRP: $59 (bare tool with 3 sheets of sandpaper) Usually, the first steps of reviewing a tool are taking it out of the box, charging the batteries, then photographing the tool while it’s still in pristine condition. However, the new Ryobi 18V…

We take a look at six drills to see what sort of progress these tools have made in the past decade. There was a point in time when drill comparisons were ubiquitous in the pages of this magazine. There was an almost comforting familiarity in seeing the latest and greatest put to the test every…

Tool: M12 Fuel Brushless Drill/Driver 2503-22 Shop Now   Manufacturer: Milwaukee MSRP: $169.99 (Includes charger, hard case, 2ah battery, and 4ah battery) We don’t tend to perform drop tests on our tools. Well not intentionally at least. But if we did, I would be more worried about damaging the ground than damaging the Milwaukee 2503-22….

Tool: 12v Cordless 3/8 Drill/Driver Shop Now   Manufacturer: Hercules MSRP: $39.99 (bare tool) + $34.99 (charger) + $24.99 (battery) The Hercules 3/8 12v drill isn’t the flashiest, most high-tech option on the market, and that’s not a bad thing. The motor isn’t brushless, there’s no fancy clutch technology, and you have to buy the…

Tool: 12v Brushless Drill Shop Now   Manufacturer: Hoto MSRP: $149.99 (Includes internal 2 ah battery, charging cable, 8 drill bits, and 10 screwdriver bits) I’m sure many of you out there, especially the ones that haven’t had their morning coffee yet, are wondering what the heck they’re looking at. Is it a massage gun? A…

In Conversation with Plane Maker Karl Holtey. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. In 2015, acclaimed hand plane maker Karl Holtey announced his impending retirement and was working on the 984 panel plane: what he intended to be his final production run of hand planes and…

To conclude this series of entries about lapping/flattening the soles of metal planes (read them here #1, #2, #3, #4), I wish to share some information about the precision tools I use.  The difference between Straight Edges and Rules The primary tool I mentioned throughout this series was the straight edge. I use it to…

Meet Reid Schwartz: artist, interested human, maker of tools, worker of wood and restorer of old things Crooked Knives & Curved Lines A canoe is a study in curved lines. The curves allow it to slip silently through water almost without effort. Even the few parts that are straight, like thwarts (cross braces), are rounded…

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The #8 Record plane I bought a few years ago was the most prominent, heaviest, and the longest plane I have ever lapped; it was also a plane for which I devised a lapping system that speeded up the process significantly. Although made by a prominent British…

Cutting your own dovetails is a right of passage for many woodworkers. Many out there find it intimidating when they first start though. Here are a few techniques that will help you out (or help you improve the skills you already have). 1. Cut By Hand When dovetailing by hand, be bold. Don’t bother with…

In previous entries, I explained how to lap short-bodied planes using diamond stones and sandpaper rolls (click to read parts 1 and 2.).  This entry is dedicated to lapping larger planes and explaining how to avoid inadvertent convexing of the sole while lapping it.  When dealing with longer and broader planes, we have to spend…

Tool: Tool Organizers Shop Now   Manufacturer: Tool Hangerz MSRP: $6.99+ Pegboard and slat wall organization have been a staple in shops for years. In my shop, I utilize a slat-wall system for most of my power tool storage. In the past, I’ve needed to make custom holders for many of my tools, due to…

Tool: FitFinder 1/2 Gauge Shop Now   Manufacturer: MicroJig MSRP: $34.99 Dialing in a saw blade, router bit, or other cutting tool to make a cut exactly half the depth of stock seems like a simple task. However, if you’ve ever spent time dialing in a dado or rabbet depth or test fitting a lap…

Tool: The Original OmniSquare Shop Now   Manufacturer: Omni Tool Works MSRP: $29.95 This clever and inexpensive milled aluminum square functions as a try square, miter square, bevel square, T-square, combination square and (in a pinch) a compass (the compass function would work better were there a groove on the end of the blade in…

Tool: 8240 Cordless Rotary Tool Shop Now   Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $99 (includes 2.0Ah battery, charger, storage case, and several accessories) Dremel has been a whirlwind recently, releasing several new models and updated old ones, most recently the new and improved 8240 High-Speed 12V Cordless Rotary Tool. The 8240 slots nearly perfectly between the flagship…

Tool: Glue Pot & Tabletop Warmer Shop Now  Manufacturer: Powermatic MSRP: $39.50 This stainless steel replica of a late 19th-century double-boiler cast iron glue pot from Landers, Frary & Clark is both cute and useful – despite its diminutive size (3″ diameter x 23⁄8” height). The outer pot holds 2 1⁄2 fluid ounces of water…

Tool: QuickSet Work Bench TB-WB700 Shop Now   Manufacturer: ToughtBuilt MSRP: $99 Space in my shop is always at a premium, especially work surfaces. Most of the permanent counter space is reserved for the various tools I’m testing, and my assembly table is almost covered with stuff from the latest woodworking project. So if I…