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My course of action with any repair, restoration or conservation is: Do No Harm. That is, I try to deal with the essential structural, finish, hardware, etc. issues without forcing changes on the [...]

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 [...]

In the world of home-shop dust collection, dust collectors come in (basically) two flavors — single stage and two stage systems. A single stage system is what most of us are familiar with. These [...]

Watching an expensive router bit roll onto the floor is a heartbreaking experience. In the middle of a project, it can be a disaster. I drilled a few 1/2” and 1/4” holes in the edge of a piece of [...]

A little bit of carving and gilding on the rim of this bowl transforms it from a nice piece to an extraordinary one.  A step away from your ordinary bowl, this cherry bowl with a carved rim is [...]

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 [...]

New hardware is often way too shiny for my taste, so I chemically “age” it. If the metal is raw steel, I use standard gun bluing. But if it’s plated with zinc, I turn to Super Blue, a [...]

Quicker than starting from scratch, and you don’t waste any material. Editor’s note: Nancy Hiller passed away on August 29th, 2022 after a long battle with cancer. In honor of her [...]

Chisels don’t wait to get dull until you’ve finished a job—do they? The trick is to keep them sharp while you’re working. Rather than pull out my stones to renew an edge, I keep a piece of MDF [...]

Drawers are more practical than doors for most kitchen base cabinets. Here’s a quick guide to converting a cabinet from doors to drawers. Editor’s note: Nancy Hiller passed away on [...]

This sandpaper storage system is about as simple as it gets. It’s just a stack of folded envelopes bound with a big rubber band. Each envelope is marked with a grit number. A thin piece of wood [...]