Working with Metals
Tools and techniques for general metalwork in the shop. While the woodshop may be where I’m most comfortable, I’ve been fascinated by metalwork for some time. I’m always watching for tips and [...]
How To Lay Out Compound Angle Dovetails
A system as elegant as the joint itself. Compound-angle dovetails are some of the most beguiling joints in all woodworking. But, as John Lennon once suggested, they can be as difficult to make as [...]
What is Sharp?
A Sharpening Handbook: What Every Woodworker Needs to Know About Sharpening If there’s one thing to be said about woodworkers, it’s that we’re old school and prefer to pick up a book (or a [...]
A Quick Guide to Hot Hide Glue
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 Best Oak Money Can’t Buy: Turn A Log into Lumber by Hand
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 [...]
Shop Flooring
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? [...]
Replacing an old Hope Chest Lock – Part 3
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 [...]
Hard-Line Dust Piping: Best Practices
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 [...]
Replacing an old Hope Chest Lock – Part 2
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 [...]
Replacing an Old Hope Chest Lock, Part 1
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 [...]
5 Ways to Make a Mortise
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 [...]
8 Ways to Make Tenons
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 [...]