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Look to your firewood pile for plenty of project inspiration. I’ve been cutting up my leftover bits of green wood for firewood to use in my new workshop. It’s not going well. I have a feeling [...]

Nicholas Disbrowe, Samuel Sewall and chairs as corpse transportation. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking. As I study [...]

Period woodworking trades in London were strictly regulated. I’ve temporarily put down my 5⁄16” joiner’s mortising chisel in favor of a 2″ chisel for chopping carpenter’s mortises. [...]

Early modern records show guild regulations in London. Early 17th-century London tradesmen were protective about their work, carefully keeping an eye on any interlopers to their craft. A dispute [...]

Strength, patience and a sharp saw turn scraps into treasure. The hardwoods I use are almost always riven or split from a log. When I need thinner pieces than usual, I split them again. But there [...]

Raking light through windows is the clear winner in a hand-tool shop. In 2007, I was a speaker at Colonial Williamsburg’s Furniture Forum, and there I met Adam Cherubini. He was in costume in the [...]

I have used a slöjd (or slöyd) knife for decades. Fitting them with a handle of your own making is pretty simple, and quite rewarding. You can tailor the handle to suit your hands and/or your [...]

Get some splitting leverage with this simple contraption. by Peter Follansbee Reach for a froe, and you should immediately think, “Give me a brake.” The brake can be a constructed workholding [...]

This kitchen workhorse presents a surprising and rewarding challenge. This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. A wooden spoon – you can get one for [...]