Techniques

This traditional glue takes a little bit of preparation and planning, but is still a valuable asset in today’s shop. “Ought a turn you to glue.” It was a saying that I heard my great-grandfather [...]

The cost of this stock is physical exertion, but it’s fun and rewarding. The riven oak that I use for joinery work is the best stock available; but it comes at a cost – the labor invested to [...]

Giving a little bit of attention to the flooring in your shop can make your shop more inviting and more comfortable to work in. When’s the last time you took a good hard look at your shop floor? [...]

After reducing the volume of the original half-mortise using two strips of wood and addressing the crack in the shallow recess of the catch plate (read part two of the story here), I decided to [...]

Follow these best practices to get the most out of your dust collection system. I don’t think that there has been something that’s increased my enjoyment in the shop as much as getting a good [...]

After fine-tuning the quirks with the new replacement lock and its brass catch plate, I turned my attention to the cedar hope chest’s half-mortise. I measured and compared the existing depth and [...]

Last winter, a friend gifted me an old cedar hope chest. The piece was made by her late father-in-law, an amateur woodworker. Since she and her husband were preparing to sell their home and move [...]

A hole is just a hole, no matter how you dig it. The mortise-and-tenon joint is fundamental in woodworking. Along with the dovetail, this joint has been used for thousands of years. If you judge [...]

A quick guide to the pros and cons of how to make the difficult part of a classic joint. Many pieces of old handmade furniture owe their long life to mortise and tenon joints. There are many [...]

Why you’re better off to look this gift horse in the mouth. There is a trap lurking within the pages of our magazine. It is also in most woodworking magazines, and many books. It is called the [...]

Fine furniture calls for an elegant drawer. A master cabinetmaker shares his approach to design and fitting. There are just a few things my partner at Philadelphia Furniture Workshops, Alan [...]

One staple you’ll likely find in most woodworking shops is a fasteners/hardware bin filled with small plastic drawers. These drawers hold everything from nails and screws to hinges and glue [...]