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Simplification and organization are the keys to success. I’ve worked in a small workshop for many years now. Many, if not most woodworkers, would classify my 7′ x 13′ space more as a [...]

Most of us share this pathological habit that’s hard to break. I have a problem. A compulsion, really. It’s not as serious as, say, alcoholism, a food addiction, or an unhealthy fascination with [...]

An experiment uncovers cutting edges of the past. “How did they sharpen their tools back then?” I’ve asked this question myself and I have been asked the question, and I’ve never felt comfortable [...]

Youthful energy sparks the experience, but careful work takes time. Editor’s note: this article originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Recently, the [...]

Bow Blues After preparing the laminations, bending form and heat box for the fiberglass longbow I planned to build, I mixed the epoxy—and promptly began to mess up the entire project. First, I [...]

The bogs of New Zealand yield gargantuan Kauri logs. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in American Woodworker #139. Ancientwood is listed as permanently closed on Google but [...]

Passing up gold for a treasure with more lasting value. The holidays are a time for visiting and catching up. While visiting my parents one Thanksgiving, my mother handed me an envelope. I could [...]

Pants on Fire When Daylight Savings Time begins, I make it a point to change the batteries in the three smoke detectors in my workshop. It was that time again, so I bought new 9-volt batteries [...]

Trade dangers revealed in 17th-century journals. I thought of Nehemiah Wallington (1598-1658) when I set up my lathe in my nearly finished workshop. A few times a year he pops up in my mind. He [...]

A nervous woodworker is aghast as his best projects arrive from storage. The message “Up”(with a directional arrow, no less) seems unambiguous. When displayed prominently on all four of what [...]

I always sign my work, now that I’ve figured out an easy and permanent way to do it: I use an engraver. But not just any engraver—it has to have an adjustable stroke (the distance the tip moves [...]

Kite frames to cabinets: A 50-year journey back to woodworking. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the February 2015 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Before mom’s shop [...]