Coping Saw Blades from Pegas
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I pretty much eat coping saw blades for breakfast. Just about every piece of casework I do involves dovetails (sometimes more than 100 in a single piece such as a tool chest), so a coping saw is almost always on the bench to remove waste. For years I have used the Olson coping saw blades and been quite happy with them, especially compared to the home-center dreck. My only complaint []
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posted at: 12:00am on 30-Jul-2014
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The Thick & Thin of Veneer Repair
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Veneer is just thin wood, so dont be afraid of it. by Bob Flexner from the November 2009 issue, #179 I love repairing old furniture, the older the better. I find repairing more challenging and satisfying than making new because someone else, or time and age, has set the parameters within which I have to work. I've written several articles in Popular Woodworking on furniture repair, including Regluing []
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posted at: 12:03am on 29-Jul-2014
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Strike-button Repair for Woodies
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In the October 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (which mails to subscribers in about a week), Bill Anderson has an article on common fixes for vintage wooden planes in other words, we want to encourage you to get those wooden planes off the shelf, fix them up as needed and start using them! The article shows the five most commonly needed repairs, but heres a sixth from Bill []
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posted at: 12:03am on 29-Jul-2014
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Sketch a Volute Freehand with George R. Walker
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As we were working on the October 2014 issue (#213) of Popular Woodworking Magazine (which mails to subscribers in early August), Design Matters columnist George R. Walker stopped in the offices and shot a quick video that demonstrates the technique of drawing a volute freehand. Watch as George steps through the process to draw a classical form that can unlock your inner eye, and read more about it in our []
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posted at: 12:03am on 29-Jul-2014
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Lie-Nielsen Open House Slide Show
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Apologies for the delay in posting this; I took a few days vacation in Maine after the Lie-Nielsen Open House, then the last 10 days or so to catch up (well, to try to catch upIm not quite yet there). A lot of folks have e-mailed with questions about new tools on the horizon from Lie-Nielsen (I know most of you know what Im talking about); While Thomas Lie-Nielsen is []
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posted at: 12:03am on 28-Jul-2014
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Woodworking in America Speakers Phil Lowe
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The third Woodworking in America 2014 (WIA) speaker to be profiled is Phil Lowe. In 2005, he too won the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Cartouche award (an honor bestowed by the Society to Master Craftsman who have illustrated the highest standard of education, resource, and applied venue for historical appreciation). He is also the second presenter who taught at North Bennett Street in Boston; he spent a decade []
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posted at: 12:03am on 26-Jul-2014
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Why I Lay Out Dovetails with Dividers
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Rob Cosman showed me how to lay out dovetails using dividers about 12 or 13 years ago, and I have never looked back. I've caught a lot of crap for using the divider method from fellow hand-tool woodworkers who say that laying them out by eye is much faster. I don't disagree. However, there are some advantages to taking the extra time and use dividers. 1. My work looks more []
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posted at: 12:04am on 25-Jul-2014
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The Uffy TH-T-1825XP 18 Gauge Brad Nailer
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Part of my job at Popular Woodworking Magazine is to talk with tool manufacturers and get their newest innovations into the PWM shop to test and review. I tend to do things in a big way, which means I have a small mountain of things to review crowding the shop, my cubicle and the storage area in the front of the PWM offices, its a big pile. And with []
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posted at: 12:04am on 25-Jul-2014
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Almost-forgotten Handsaw Tricks
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by by Carl Bilderback pages 64-65 from the October 2006 issue This article also appears in the book Handsaw Essentials. About 35 years ago I was using a handsaw in what I considered the usual method: Cut, blow the sawdust off my pencil line and then cut some more. The foreman on the job was watching me work and he came over and stopped me. He said he was told []
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posted at: 12:01am on 24-Jul-2014
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Thank You Carl Bilderback
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Among the many great people Ive met while on staff at Popular Woodworking Magazine (PWM), one of my favorites is Carl Bilderback. Carl is a retired carpenter who has extraordinary skills with both hand and power tools (and he has vast collections of both), and a deep and abiding passion for the craft. Hes an active member of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Assn., and spends a lot of time driving []
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posted at: 12:01am on 24-Jul-2014
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SketchUp Class With Bob Lang, Sept. 8-12
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I will be teaching a week-long SketchUp class September 8-12, 2014 at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. If you want to get a better understanding of the 3D modeling program we use here at Popular Woodworking Magazine, this is your opportunity. As in all my SketchUp classes, we start with a thorough understanding of the basics of how the program works, and by the end of the []
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posted at: 12:01am on 24-Jul-2014
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A Great Museum Book for Free
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Last week while teaching a class at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking on building the Connecticut lowboy from the February 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine (#209) to seven excellent woodworkers (read more about the class here), I was asked to take a trip into New York city to the Metropolitan Museum (the Met for short). Of course, it took only minutes for me to say, Hell yes.
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posted at: 12:03am on 23-Jul-2014
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Carve Like a Master
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Very quickly aftergetting serious aboutwoodworking I realized, if I wanted to make more than simple projects with square or tapered legs, I needed to develop my skills in two major areas beyond joinery. Not that theres anything wrong with simple forms, but I wanted to push my skills well beyond the boundaries pieces like that could offer. In order to step things up, I had to learn how to turn []
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posted at: 12:01am on 22-Jul-2014
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Tool Chests, 1997-2014
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I've worked out of a traditional floor chest since 1997 when I built my first cover project for Popular Woodworking Magazine. It's not that I've always been monogamous, however. I've tried all manner of wall chests, tool racks, rolling cabinets, soft-sided bags and suitcases as ways to contain, protect and limit my tools. But I have always come back to my floor chest. Here's why. Nothing else gives me the []
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posted at: 12:04am on 21-Jul-2014
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Preparing Woodworkers for a Brighter Future
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Woodworking as a craft is one of mankinds oldest uses of technology, and each generation has passed along knowledge about how to, when to and why to. Technology has changed within the craft itself and the way in which information moves from older to younger. A lot of things that used to be made out of wood are now constructed of different materials, but woodworking is still an important part []
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posted at: 12:04am on 21-Jul-2014
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New Vise Mechanism from Hovarter
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Len Hovarter of Hovarter Custom Vise has developed a simple and inexpensive quick-release leg vise mechanism that looks quite ingenious. Like all of Hoverter's vises, they work on the age-old principle of unicorn magic. They slide in and out smoothly without a threaded rod. Then they engage the work with a short turn of the handle. Kelly Mehler has a twin-screw vise with a Hovarter on it and I can []
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posted at: 12:08am on 18-Jul-2014
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Woodworker's Solutions to Router Bit Storage
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A few weeks back I posted about router bit storage. At the end of the post I suggested that readers send me photos of their storage solutions and I would write a follow-up post showing those photos. Many readers shared photos of how they store router bits. I must say that the solutions were innovative and creative. But I was a bit disappointed that no one shared any of the []
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posted at: 12:08am on 18-Jul-2014
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Basque Workbenches, With Unusual Face Vises
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Take one leg vise. Rotate it 90. Now you have a Basque face vise. Woodworker Matt Talley is working in France right now. And during his free time he is hunting down workbenches in the Southern France/Basque region. He's posted photos of some of his interesting finds at his web site here. I've been poring over his photos and found lots of interesting details (the bolted-on dog strip, for one) []
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posted at: 12:01am on 17-Jul-2014
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A Guitar Stand of Clever Design
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At the Lie-Nielsen open house last weekend, luthier Patrick Sebrey, of Union, Maine, brought along a clever maple guitar stand on which he put the finishing touches during the two days of technique and tool demos. At first glance, I thought the piece was a musical instrument — perhaps a variation on a harp — thanks to the tuning keys and strings. But Patrick told me it was a stand, […]The post A Guitar Stand of Clever Design appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.
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posted at: 12:01am on 17-Jul-2014
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Lie-Nielsen Open House (and a Crazy Dutch Chest)
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Last weekend I attended the Lie-Nielsen Open House at the company's factory in Warren, Maine, and got to hang out with a lot of contributors to Popular Woodworking Magazine and work together on an unusual Dutch Tool Chest. What's a Dutch Tool Chest? Check out the October 2013 issue to find out. Every year, Lie-Nielsen opens its doors to the public a la Willy Wonka to show off the factory, []
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posted at: 12:03am on 15-Jul-2014
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Not Your Prosaic Handplane
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Just a little something to drool over the holly knob and tote are by Bill Rittner; theengraving is by Catharine Kennedy. Megan Fitzpatrick p.s. Im out of the office this weekand cant seem to turn the pic on my phone.
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posted at: 12:03am on 15-Jul-2014
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Campaign Birdhouse, the Movie
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I often joke that I will someday make my fortune by writing a birdhouse book typically the best-selling woodworking books (by far). And many readers have asked (jokingly) why I didn't include a campaign birdhouse in my latest book on campaign-style furniture. So it was amusing when woodworker Ric Archibald showed up with a campaign birdhouse he had made that collapses like a typical campaign bookcase. The bookcase uses [
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posted at: 12:11am on 13-Jul-2014
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Pros and Cons of Routers for Joinery
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Although routers were originally designed to create moulded shapes, they can be excellent joinery tools. In fact, they're better in some ways than table saws, professional quality mortisers or dado cutters when it comes to cutting joints. There are several reasons routers have an advantage: Simplicity: Setting up hand-held or table-mounted routers is rather straightforward. Tools dedicated to joint-making such as hollow-chisel mortisers are more complex and require more []
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posted at: 12:00am on 12-Jul-2014
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Blogs to Read; Sites to Visit
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As I get ready to leave for the Lie-Nielsen Open House (which is this Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Warren, Maine), Im looking at the list of the many storied demonstrators who will be on hand. I realize you may not be able to make it Down East this weekend, so check out the web sites, and in some cases, excellent blogs, of the folks who []
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posted at: 12:02am on 10-Jul-2014
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Have Chisels; Will Travel
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Ill be at the Lie-Nielsen open house in Warren, Maine this Friday and Saturday (July 11-12) from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. On Friday, Ill be demonstrating "Five Quick Fixes for Less-than-stellar Dovetails throughout the day in our booth. On Saturday, Ill be hanging out in the august company of, among others, Christian Becksvoort, Peter Follansbee, Christopher Schwarz, Matt Bickford, Mary May and Peter Galbert, plus, of course, Thomas Lie-Nielsen, Deneb Puchalski, []
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posted at: 12:00am on 08-Jul-2014
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A Visit to the Famous Maine Tool Barn
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The first rule of buying old tools: If you think you might buy it, grab it. You can always put it back. So today I did a dumb thing. I spent a couple hours at the Hulls Cove Tool Barn in Maine with Joshua Klein, a woodworker and furniture restorer. That, however, wasn't the dumb thing. That was smart, the Tool Barn is a Mecca for woodworkers. What was []
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posted at: 12:01am on 05-Jul-2014
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Woodworking in America Speakers: Will Neptune
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Will Neptune Another of the top-notch, first-time presenters at the 2014 edition of Woodworking in America (WIA) in Winston-Salem, N.C. in September is Will Neptune. While I have yet to meet Will in person, Ive been told by many woodworkers that he is a star among stars. Will won the SAPFM Cartouche award in 2013. He and W. Patrick Edwards (also presenting at WIA 2014) are the award winners for []
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posted at: 12:01am on 04-Jul-2014
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Congrats to Mike Russell, Our Shop Makeover Winner
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Mike Russell, of Rochester, Minn., is the lucky winner of the 2014 $8,000 Shop Makeover sweepstakes. A plumber who took up woodworking eight years ago, Mike got involved in the craft through city-sponsored community education classes that allow classes to be taught in local middle and high school workshops (a cool idea). (Hes also a member of the DIY Wood Studio in Fargo, N.D. another cool idea.) Mikes first []
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posted at: 12:01am on 04-Jul-2014
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Design in Practice: Rooms With a View
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In researching my next topic for this blog series, I was cruising the Winterthur web site. One of the things I noticed, as I sought various examples of a specific furniture form, was some great room shots from the museum. It dawned on me that these rooms are the epitome of design in practice. All of the photos in this post are courtesy of Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library. When []
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posted at: 12:10am on 03-Jul-2014
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Metal Planing Stops Not Obsolete
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Because my workbench doesn't have an end vise, I've become creative when it comes to planing my stock with only a simple planing stop, a holdfast and dogs. Mine is a primitive arrangement compared to a beautiful European tail vise with its array of dog holes, but it works. And I rarely ever think: If only I had a tail vise. Of course, there are some tricks to using a []
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posted at: 12:05am on 02-Jul-2014
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Roy Underhill's Shop at Home
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As you pull up the leafy driveway to the mill Roy and Jane Underhill call home, off to the right is the cottage where I was lucky enough to stay on my recent visit (you can take a look at it here). To the left is a barn in which Roy has his home shop. Many students who have taken classes that move from log to project at The Woodwrights []
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posted at: 12:00am on 01-Jul-2014
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Furniture Details: Here's What's New
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In Fridays Furniture Details post I tossed out a photo of a Newport dressing table (or lowboy if you prefer), but shot from below. The idea was to get you looking at not only how the piece was made but how things had been repaired/replaced over time. I made the post into a little contest to see who could pick out what was wrong on the piece. And, we had []
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posted at: 12:00am on 01-Jul-2014
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