Limbert – Second Fiddle to the Stickleys?
Like any Arts & Crafts enthusiast, I like the Gustav and L. & J.G. Stickley classics. But ever since I started collecting the stuff 28 years ago, I’ve had a deep affection for pieces by [...]
Flush-cutting Without Frustration
Cutting wedges, plugs or dowels flush with the surrounding surface is a source of great frustration for many woodworkers. Either you leave way too much of the plug behind, or you chew up the [...]
Drill Accurate Holes Without Blue Tape
For many years I’ve wished for a better way to drill holes to an accurate depth without putting blue tape on the bit. The tape slips. Always. And then disaster ensues. I’ve tried all manner of [...]
A Return to Whitewater Shaker Village
Most visitors to the Cincinnati area have heard about the Pleasant Hill Shaker community (currently under renovation) or perhaps South Union. But few know about Whitewater, which is less than 30 [...]
A Return to Whitewater Shaker Village
Most visitors to the Cincinnati area have heard about the Pleasant Hill Shaker community (currently under renovation) or perhaps South Union. But few know about Whitewater, which is less than 30 [...]
A Parting Gift from Jennie Alexander
Last week the woodworking community lost one of its giants. Jennie Alexander (1930-2018) passed away in Baltimore, where she lived and worked as a jazz musician, attorney and revolutionary [...]
Enough Glue Brushes for 720 Years of Work
I am fond of using acid brushes – sometimes called “flux brushes” – for spreading glue. And I have used the same acid brush for more than five years of daily work in the shop. I clean it after [...]
Pinch Dogs to the Rescue (I Hope)
Like pocket screws, traditional pinch dogs are a great way to join odd assemblies or to use them in conjunction with clamps. A typical use is to drive them into the ends of a panel while the [...]
Pocket Screws for Chairmaking? (Yes)
The first time I became aware of pocket screws I was standing in a Grizzly Industrial showroom handing out free magazines to a long line of customers – maybe 200 people. More than half of them [...]
A Much Better Shape for a Card Scraper
In May I got to spend two weeks working with Chris Williams, a Welsh chairmaker who worked with John Brown for many years. While Chris was teaching a class in building his Welsh Stick Chair I [...]
How to Bend Wood – and Set it – in Just One Day
Bending wood is great fun, but it can be frustrating when you need to work quickly (i.e. make a living at it). After you bend a piece of wood and clamp it to a form, you usually need to let …
Dent the Wood for Tighter Joints
We’ve all dented some important part of a project and hand to remove the dent with heat and steam. It’s a routine and and annoying fix. But what if we could use the same process to make our [...]